My Creations - Gina Thornton

Kusudama origami flowers

2012-02-01T12:21:00.001-05:00

I am still looking for new crafting items to try, and in my search I came across these flowers.
Kusudama origami flowers. Aren't they pretty? This was my first attempt. I have to try harder to get the center a little tighter. But I like how it turned out! I actually made this flower with post it note squares. :)

Learning something new

2012-01-31T12:11:00.004-05:00

So I have been trying to branch out in my creativity. Which isn't always easy to deviate from what you know best. Anyway...I learned ho to make ribbon roses! This is the first one I made. I have a theme for one of my upcoming swaps where we have to add a handmade flower, and who knows, maybe these will be the ones I use! I still have to finish this one off, but I like how it turned out!

Addicted to Cardmaking swap - December 2011

2012-01-30T12:03:00.003-05:00

These cards were made for December's theme, "Specialty papers." The papers I used are hand made papers that have metallic details added. I have always loved red, black and white together, so of course I had to make them that color! I used sentiments from Stampin' Up's "Pursuit of Happiness" (121970 clear, or 121907 wood) on the one on the left, and "On your Birthday" (only available in wood - 111664). I have had these papers for a while, someone had given them to me as a gift (Terri was it you?), but I wasn't quite sure how to use them. I think they turned out pretty nice!

Card Front swap

2012-01-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

I am trying to get back into the swing of taking pictures of my swaps. It isn't always easy to remember! These were the swaps I made for my "based on a sketch" theme for my card front swap on my favorite MB. I had received a bunch of pieces of cardstock that someone had embossed for me a few years ago, and they have been sitting here, while I didn't know what to do with them. Well, I pulled them out, used some inks to rub over the image to give it some detail and added them to the card. I added the hand made flower and voila! You can't tell from the picture, but the ends of the banner are raised slightly to give the illusion that the banner is floating. I wanted to add a picture of the sketch, but it appears that was saved on the old computer! Doh.

Craft Fair items

2012-01-28T11:50:00.000-05:00

Cheyenne likes to be a part of creating for the craft shows. This year she made up the Showman soup bags which I then decorated. She also made some of these cute candy trains. She was so proud when someone bought one! Then in December she made them with her girl scout troop as a craft project. She said she loved being a craft teacher! :)
Here's a picture of some of the candy boxes I made for the sales. I made a bunch of them and lost track after I sold 27 of them. I also had a special order for more of them. So easy to make, although they do take a little while to get everything cut and assembled. One woman bought some and said they were perfect for her place settings for Christmas eve. :)

Visitation Craft sale items

2012-01-27T11:40:00.002-05:00

I believe this is the last of the photos I have. I have to look in my cell phone to see if there are more. In the top picture I have hand sanitizer holders. Great gifts for teachers, day care workers, bus/van drivers, or anyone you'd like to keep germ free! (and a not so good picture of altered starbucks jars) And in the bottom picture I have another close up of post it note frames with matching pens.

I had a great time at the craft shows this year, and I am looking forward to next years sales! And I will definitely be adding in some new items as well as requested items.

Items for Craft Show - Visitation

2012-01-26T11:35:00.002-05:00

I had to take these pictures from above, while behind the table because it was just too busy to go out in front to take them!

In the top picture I have some ribbon weaving wreaths, post it notes holders, snowman soup, and ornament money holders.

In the bottom picture I have some post it note holders, gift card holders, and skinny tablets. These tablets are PERFECT for keeping track of your holiday shopping lists, to do lists, etc. I had some requests to make some for next year in non-holiday, so I will be adding those for next year.

Visitation BVM Craft Sale Nov 18 & 19, 2011

2012-01-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

This year I was able to secure a spot at Visitation's Holiday craft show. I was both excited and a little anxious. I heard how busy their shows are! The first picture is one of the crowd on Friday night. And this isn't even at it's busiest!!!! When I went to set up I was a little overwhelmed. I expected an 8 foot space, this was closer to 10 or 12 foot. They used their lunch tables for us. I just kind of stood there staring at the tables, not really sure where to start. Then I was afraid I was not going to have enough stuff to fill the space. I ended up just fine, and still had stuff to put out. The pictures of the tables are from late Friday night, I can tell because there are boxes of cards there. When I first set up, I didn't have room for the cards. I ended up doing pretty well, making almost 4 times the sales I ever made at craft shows! I will absolutely be back next year! Oh and while I was there, someone from St Sophia's approached me to be a vendor at their sale next November! All in all a very successful show!!!

Craft fair items

2012-01-24T11:20:00.002-05:00

Here is the last photo of the items for Oaks Fire House sale. Here we have lollipop holders, altered starbucks candy jars, Snowman soup, and candy bar holders all in the back row. Towards the front we have more coaster calendars, post it note holders, post it note key chains, mini composition books with matching pens, and spiral notebooks with matching pens. This year I opted to put the books into bags with toppers with my information. For one it kept the pens together with the books, keeps them clean and keeps little fingers from drawing on the pages. :)

PS Today's my birthday! Whoo Hoo! Nothing special planned.

Craft Fair items

2012-01-23T11:18:00.002-05:00

Another view of some craft fair items. Here are lip balm holders, gift card holders, coaster calendars, and ornament money holders.

Craft fair items

2012-01-22T11:11:00.003-05:00

Here I have pictures some altered composition books, decorated rulers, gift card holders, gift tags and corner bookmarks. These composition books I made into Holiday planners. Each one has handmade paper beads on ribbons which are great bookmarks. I also added tabs in little baggies so that when the person bought it, they could add dividers if they wished. The corner bookmarks are great for holding your space in a favorite book, and they aren't bulky so they wont mess up the spines of your books (I hate that). The gift card holders are probably one of my best sellers.

Oh and the rulers? What better way to keep track of your ruler! I bet no one would dare try to steal your ruler now! You could tell by looking at it that it was yours! Perfect gift for teachers, crafters or anyone in school!

Craft Fair items

2012-01-21T11:07:00.002-05:00

I was so glad I took pictures of these before the sale! No lie I sold out of both of these items within 5 minutes of the doors opening! Luckily I had brought more of the little snowmen to make with me. The popcorn holders hold a sleeve of microwave popcorn, and would make a perfect gift! Want to kick it up a notch? Add a Movie theater gift certificate! The candy bar snowmen are filled with Nestle crunch, kit kats or hershey bars. There are also a couple more coaster calendars pictured here.

Oaks Fire House Sale - close ups

2012-01-20T11:04:00.002-05:00

Here are some close ups of some of the items I had for sale at Oaks. I started making items in June for the sale in November. In this picture I have PostIt Note Purses, Ornament money holders, Post it note frames, coaster calendars and Folding Christmas planners.

Oaks Fire House Craft Show Nov 2011

2012-01-19T12:00:00.001-05:00

In November I participated in Oaks Fire House's craft show. This was my second year with them and it was so much better then the first! The first year we were in the bay where the trucks usually park, and believe me when I tell you it was freezing when we were setting up! The doors were open, and no heat...but anyway..this year we were in the main hall and it was awesome! Here are some pictures of my set ups (kids not included in the sales). I am still trying to perfect my displays, but I am getting there I think. I'll be showing close up pictures in another post.

Hello! Hello! Is anyone there?

2012-01-19T10:53:00.004-05:00

So I know I have been gone for some time. What can I say. My computer's hard drive got fried. At the time I didn't care because I was working diligently on items for my craft show, and a computer was just one more distraction I didn't need. Well craft shows, and holidays are over now, and David switched the kids computer into my craft room, so now I am back in business! I have lots to share with you my viewers and rather then mob you with a bunch of posts all at once, I am going to stretch them out. So get ready for some new projects!

Holiday Planners

2011-09-27T20:41:00.001-04:00

LOL I can get over how cute these penguins are!!! Anyway I have been hard at work making items for upcoming holiday sales that I will be renting booths at. I made these holiday planners from a composition book! Inside I added the pocket for receipts, and I also added some optional tabs which are in a little bag which I will slip into the pocket. You'll see that I added some of those cute paper beads I posted previously! I love these things! And what a cute way to stay organized for the holidays! Stay tuned more of these will be following!!

Want to get your hands on one??? You can order this one for only $5 plus shipping! Ask me for details!

Handmade Paper beads

2011-09-25T22:33:00.000-04:00

Okay so I came across a blog where it showed how to make paper beads. Can I tell you how HOOKED I am on making these??? The two that are more of a matte finish I made those with Modge Podge. The others I made using UTTE (Ultra thick embossing powder). They are super easy to make, and they are very addicting!!! Stay tuned for some projects that I made using these little gems!

Happy Birthday - a piggy card

2011-09-20T22:28:00.002-04:00

My daughter helped me with a craft room yard sale I had in July and she kept admiring this stamp. It is a rolling stamp I had FOREVER but just never used. She LOVES pigs, well, I should say she loves pork and bacon! LOL. Anyway she kept playing with it and then made the comment that her birthday was coming up soon. So I new just what to use when it was time to make her birthday card! I added some embossing and some satin ribbon and Viola! She loved it! Needless to say, it was removed from the yard sale pile, and now has a safe place along with the rest of my rolling stamps! :)

August Promotion - Buy 3 Get 1 Free

2011-08-09T16:40:00.004-04:00

From now until August 31st, Stampin Up is offering Buy 1 Get free on select packs of their Designer Paper. There is no limit on this special, the items just have to be listed on the flyer. Click on the Photo above to see the list of items which are included!
Hurry, offer only good until August 31st!!!

Devastating Fire- Help Needed for a fellow Crafter's Family

2011-08-08T10:07:00.003-04:00

As a member of the Card Fairy Army on my Favorite MB, I was made aware of a very devastating story. A fellow member on my favorite MB has posted the story on her blog. Two of her children and their families lost their home and their belongings in a tragic fire last week. In the home were also 2 grandchildren. Thankfully they all escaped the blaze unharmed. They escaped with each other and the clothes and shoes that they had on. The next day the one son-in-law went in and found the flag which draped his father's casket. If you'd like to read the whole story, it is found on Kymberlee's Blog. They are asking for help for these two families. No gift is too small. More details on that are also listed on Kymberlee's blog. Both of the men, both named Nick, proudly serve in the US Coast Guard.

Even encouraging words would be great. Why not send a handmade card if you are a crafter. The address is also on Kymberlee's blog.

Fall into Autumn Addcited To Cardmaking

2011-07-23T09:39:00.001-04:00

Here's another stamp set that I just HAD TO HAVE which my hubby bought me a few Christmases ago. Now I have to say I couldn't decide how to color the leaf pile. I mean leaf piles aren't all one color. So I tried a few different ways, and I think I like this way the best. These are for my Addicted to Cardmaking swap on my favorite MB, the theme being Fall colors. This is the first time I used a big circle/scallop on my card and I do really like it! The background is embossed with a Sizzix folder ran through my BigShot. The twill I colored by pulling it across my (I believe) Soft Suede Classic Ink stamp pad. The PopTop (from a Diet Coke Can) was dyed using alcohol markers. But you could always use alcohol inks. The image I colored with my Stampin' Write markers (Marvelous Markers). The patterned paper is just stuff I had on hand. I love how this turned out!

Boys Birthday Cards

2011-07-22T11:32:00.000-04:00

In continuing with the Kid's birthday cards theme, these are the ones I created for the boys. For some reason I am really into Robots this year! I just think they are cute! I picked up this unmounted cutie at a stamp show, I believe last year. I knew I was going to use this stamp when I posted the boy's theme! I colored them with my Marvelous Markers (Stampin' Write Markers) from Stampin' Up. The little hats are stamped on patterned paper then paper pieced onto the image. The sentiment is from the Lots of Bots set by stampin' Up. I believe the hats came from the Sock Monkey accessories set. These were fun to make. Again I couldn't decide on the colors. I thought the grey color was more robot-like, but the blue matched better.

Girl's Birthday Cards

2011-07-21T13:26:00.002-04:00

I decided to do a Kid's Birthday card swap on my Favorite MB. Swappers could sign up for Boys or Girls or a combination of both. I went with a stamp that my hubby bought for me about 3 Christmases back that I HAD TO HAVE. Sadly this is the first time she's seen the light of day! I tried my hand at using some of those alcohol markers, and although I am sure I didnt use them the proper way, I am pretty happy with the results. The background I embossed with Stampin' Up's Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder which I ran through my BigShot. I finished it off with the sentiment punched out and layered with circle punches and the scalloped circle punch. I couldn't decide if I liked the sentiment on the white or the purple, so I did some of each.

June's Card Club

2011-07-21T11:21:00.002-04:00

One of the great things about card club, besides getting together with a great group of ladies, is that you get to see different people's creativeness. Tonight was Card Club and my usual group of ladies, along with a couple new ladies, came over to make cards. The first picture is my original sample. It features Pretty in Pink and Whisper White Cardstock with Concord Crush Designer Paper (DSP). I colored the image from the soon to be retired (retires June 30th) "Pun Fun" with my Stampin' Write markers. The polka dots on the latte mug were done with the white gel pen by Signo. The sentiment we stamped and then punched with the Word Window punch and then layered it onto Concord Crush which was punched with the Modern Label punch. At Card Club I also offered Fun and Fast Notes so everyone could choose an image/sentiment that best worked for her.

The second picture, I made at card club to show what it would look like without the Concord Crush strip. Some ladies liked it with, while others liked it without! Either way it looks great!

Are you interested in joining us for Card Club?? Why not check my website to see when the next Card Club meets:
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/gina_thornton/Can't make it here? Have a card club with you and your friends, you provide the location.

Quilted Thinking of You

2011-07-10T15:03:00.003-04:00

I have always liked the looks of the quilted card made with the Top Note die! Here is another spin on it which I created for the Summer Month's Fronts swap on my favorite MB. The theme for June was Thinking Of you. The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations. The papers and ribbons were all from stuff I had on hand, which coincidentally came from a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) from someone on my favorite MB.

Sympathy Fronts

2011-07-10T14:58:00.003-04:00

So this is the right picture....Above are the fronts I created for the Sympathy Card fronts for my Monthly Card front swap on my Fav MB. It features the Thoughts and Prayers set. I also used an embossing folder on the background paper. I did a little embossing on the edges just to give it a little more color. Then finished it all off with a ribbon. The sentiment is punched out with the oval punchm then matted on a scalloped oval and dimensionals to give it some pop.

Red White and Blue Hello

2011-06-15T16:45:00.003-04:00

Isn't this little girl the cutest? I found this stamp in a Craft Store in Ohio when we were there last September for my brother's wedding. We don't have the store near by here, and since it is at least a 10 hour drive to get there, we always make time to stop in and see what is new.
Anyway, I made this card for my Addicted to Cardmaking swap on my Favorite MB. I used my Stampin Write markers in Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Blush Blossom, and Brocade Blue (I think). The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Hello Again". I love how it sort of looks like she is peeking through a window! The background is also embossed with a star folder and my BigShot.

LOL It appears I had the wrong picture there! But It's fixed now! Sorry about that!

Country Flowers

2011-06-14T16:34:00.001-04:00

I thought I would share the finished card that I made to show the simple knots below. This is for my card front swap on my Favorite MB, the theme is ribbons. I used a now retired Stampin' Up set called "Country Morning". I stamped the image on watercolor paper and used my Stampin' p markers as well as Classic Ink pads and a blender pen to color the image. The cardstock, paper and ribbon are all stuff I had on hand.

Tying a simple knot

2011-06-11T16:15:00.007-04:00

There was some discussion on tying bows and ribbons on my favorite MB. and I thought I'd make a photo tutorial of the way I tie my knots. I love doing them this way. No guess work! AND it uses less ribbon!!!

Step 1 cut a piece of ribbon long enough to fit your card with some to overlap:

Step 2. Adhere the overlap to the back of your card. I like to use masking tape, just to be sure it isn't going anywhere:

Step 3, slide a second piece of ribbon (still attached to the spool - or you can cut a second piece about as long as the first)under the ribbon:

Step 4 "fold" the top piece over the bottom of the "knot" part, a fellow crafter described this as what the Awareness Ribbons look like:

Step 5 tuck the tail of the top piece into the "hole":

Step 6 Pull ribbon tight. If you have a two sided ribbon, like I used, flip the top piece over so you can see the design before you pull it tight:

Here's what it will look like, You can make the tails of the knot longer or shorter according to your preference:

The part I love about this knot, is if the knot isn't where you want it, take a hold of one of the tails and slide it until the knot is where you would like it. If you want shorter tails, just trim them down. You can also pull the tails in a different direction if you'd like.

I hope this helps anyone who was having trouble!

Card Front Swap - Based on a Sketch

2011-04-25T17:23:00.001-04:00

These are my card fronts for April's Card Front Swap which I am hosting on my favorite MB. The theme was Based On a Sketch. I took the sketch from StampTV's site and it looks like this:

I decided to flip my card horizontally, abut to still follow the sketch. Here's what I came up with.
I have to say that this may very well be my new favorite technique! It's called Inlaid Embossing.LOVE it! Each of those spirals is individually punched out, adhered to the white piece of cardstock, and then the whole thing is ran through my BigShot with my Square Lattice Embossing folder. I love love love the way it turns out!!! It almost looks like the spirals are patterned paper! I added the sentiment to the Decorative Label punch which I cut in half. So you are able to get two sentiments on each one. I know these colors are bright, but I think that's why they came out so cool!! I was even thinking of this as a birthday card for a teen who is "too cool" for birthdays! You have to try this technique if you haven't already! You will love it!

Addicted to Cardmaking - Friendship

2011-04-22T18:45:00.000-04:00

I created these cards for my Addicted to Cardmaking card swap on my favorite MB for March's theme, Friendship. Okay, I am working backwards, but that's okay, at least I am posting right?? I love this little bunny and mouse! Aren't they cute?? I went with purple backgrounds, not sure why, but I liked it with the pink. And I am trying to use up some of the millions of sheets of papers I have weighing down my shelves in my craft room! So I am making a conscience attempt to use patterned paper in my cards whenever possible! I colored the cute little critters with my Stampin' Up Marvelous Markers. I picked some nice bright cheery colors. I really like how it turned out!

Another Blog hop, happening soon!!!

2011-04-21T17:15:00.000-04:00

Another great blog hop is happening soon! This time the theme is FROGS!! Don't forget to hop along with us! It will all start on Karel's blog! The Totally Frog Blog Hop April 23-24th! I will be a stop along the way on my other blog found here:
http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/

Addicted to Cardmaking - Pretty Papers

2011-04-20T20:03:00.004-04:00

I know I haven't been posting for a while on this Blog. It's not because I haven't been creating. I have. I have just been lazy and haven't been pulling out the camera like I should be!
I'm going to try to rectify that situation. I am going to start by showing these cards. The theme for April's cards for my Addicted to Cardmaking cards which I host on my favorite MB, is "Pretty Papers". Now granted these are not the prettiest papers I have, but I find that they are challenging! I mean really what more can you say?? Happy Birthday is printed all over the paper! I saw a layout similar to this on display in a chain craft store. There's had paper with buttons all over it, and they tore the paper and stamped a sentiment on the cardstock. I knew I didn't need any more sentiments, so I went instead with an image of some birthday candles. And since those packs of papers that you get come with the same papers in multiple colors, I made a few in each color. I used my Marvelous Markers to color in the image, and I must say I think the colors match pretty well!
I am so glad it's Spring!! I was able to shoot these pictures out in the Pine trees that line my driveway. I looked around for flowers, but alas, they are few and far between here at my house. Now dandelions....we have plenty of those!

It's almost time for a Blog Hop!

2011-03-13T11:10:00.003-04:00

It's almost time for another blog hop! The fabulous Karel at One by One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Insanity is hosting another blog hop! Don't forget to stop back March 26th and 27th to hop along and see some awesome projects and for chances to win some great blog candy!!
This hop will happen on my other blog, so be sure to check it out there! Here's the link: Gina Thornton Stamping

Baby Shower Thank you cards

2011-02-25T16:05:00.001-05:00

I already posted these on my Stampin Up blog, I know not all of my followers are followers there, and I wanted to share these with you. Please know that the image on these is not Stampin' Up. First I have to say that Ilina Crouse, a fellow PhillyInker, taught me how to make these cards at a Make and Take at one of our meetings. And I am so glad that she did!!
A friend from work is having a baby, a little girl, and we had a surprise Baby Shower at work for her today. I wanted to make her some cards as a gift, and I knew these were going to be perfect for her. The "Onesie" itself is all hand cut. I could have used my circle punch for the neck hole, but I fear, my circle punch has seen better days. The "ruffle" around the neck and leg holes is YoYo Yellow cardstock (retired)with the Scallop circle punch. I stamped the image twice, once on the card and then on some scraps. I colored the one on the scraps with my YoYo Yellow Stampin' Write marker. Once it was dry, I used Crystal Effects over top to give it some shine. After all of that was dry I cut it out, put on some dimensionals and added it to the card. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Short & Sweet" set.
I decided I wanted to make a box for the cards, and found this one at SplitCoastStampers. The top is made with a sheet of Transparencies, which I got at a local office supply store. I have to say Transparencies are not the easiest to work with. :( And BTW they don't cut well with the Scallop Punch. I guess it is too thick?
Anyway, I love how these turned out!

Valentine's for the kids

2011-02-13T21:33:00.007-05:00

Inside: "And lots of Valentine Fish kisses!"

Inside: "Valentine I think you are out of this world!"

Can you believe it??? I actually am ahead and made the kids Valentines this year! And they are done before Valentine's Day!! Aren't you proud of me?? Well, I am proud of me!
The first Valentine is for my daughter. I saw some fish cards on the internet by various people, and thought this would make a cute Valentine! Cheyenne is on this fish kick. She's always asking me to cut out some fish out of paper, so that she can decorate them and then hang them on her walls. So I thought she would appreciate the fish on this one. Although now that I think about it, she will probably be asking me to make some of these for her next. I used the Ornament Punch by Stampin' Up, and the fins are using the 5-Petal flower punch. The eyes I cheated a little and used the eyes from Owl punch. The hearts are punched using the Heart-to-heart punch. The paper is from my stash, but since it was a water print, I thought it went well with the card! The sentiment I typed on the computer.
The second card is for my son. When I thought about a card for him, this is the set that came to mind. The aliens are from "Greetings, Earthling" set by Stampin' Up. The hearts in between the aliens are punched using the Heart-to-heart punch. The hearts in the background are stamped with some old heart stamps I have in my stash, and are stamped using VersaMark. I colored the images using my Stampin' Write Markers.
The last picture is Valentines that I made for the kids that go to my school. I was inspired by the ones that Cheyenne made for her class. I made pink ones for the girls, and the white ones for the boys. Inside there are cherry flavored lollipops.

Cheyenne's Valentines

2011-02-13T21:24:00.003-05:00

In leiu of buying Valentine's for school this year, Cheyenne and I decided to make them ourselves. I have had this printed paper forever, as well as the pink cardstock. And those stickers? I've had them at least 5 years! So it was a very inexpensive to make these!! She stuck down the stickers herself, so a few are a wee bit crooked, but I think she did pretty well!

White on White Addicted to Cardmaking

2011-02-02T18:43:00.000-05:00

These are my cards for February's Addicted to Cardmaking swap. The theme is White on White with one other color. I chose to go with this leaf stamp from Stampin' Up's now retired "Lexicon of Leaves". I first inked up the stamp in Pumpkin Pie and then "Bammed" some Cherry Cobbler ink on top. The edges are all distressed and the sentiment is is stamped with Pumpkin Pie. The background was embossed with one of the texture plates from Stampin Up's "Perfect Details" Texturz plates (item #115962)I think it gives the card a nice touch. (although you can't really see it in this picture.)

I'm moving on up....to ETSY!

2011-02-02T15:22:00.003-05:00

In a continuing effort to make a profit for some of my creations, I have branched out into ETSY territory! I only have a few items listed so far, as I am still trying to feel the ropes! More items will follow soon! Check out the link on the left hand side to go to my store!

Rain Rain Go Away

2011-02-01T18:31:00.005-05:00

The theme for February's Card Fronts is Green. I made my hubby buy me some of these stamps a few years ago for Christmas but, sadly I haven't used most of them until now. I pulled these out and her gear just screamed Green to me! I colored them with my Stampin' Write Markers in Green Galore, Gable Green, Bashful Blue and Creamy Caramel. The puddle actually came out well in this picture even though the picture is kind of yellow. I added Crystal Effects to the puddle to give it some shine. For the Card fronts I included "Rain or Shine" and also "Heard you're under the weather?" (Or something to that effect). This front I made into a card and added the little silver beads before the sentiment. Inside I stamped another pair of boots, and the sentiment. The great thing about clear stamps is that you can put them onto your blocks and bend or alter the way the stamp looks. So although this sentiment is really in a straight line, I made it go in a wave. Perfect for those of us who can't stamp our sentiments straight just by eyeballing!
Still messing with my light box. :( I accidently put my hand through the top of the tissue paper the other day. Then I needed to get a new lamp (I "borrowed" my kids computer lamp - which was mine way before they were born, and they wanted it back) and now I just can't seem to get it right. I am not giving up though!!!

I'm going "HIGH TECH"!!!

2011-01-27T20:09:00.002-05:00

In an effort to promote my Stampin' Up business, as well as my hand made products, I have created a Facebook page. It was named by my daughter (I wanted something cute but catchy). If you have a moment come and check it out, and if you like what you see, please become a fan!!

Bright and Happy Thoughts - Card Front

2011-01-27T19:37:00.007-05:00

I am still playing with taking pictures in my light box. I did get a bigger box, but I need a brighter light I think. Or maybe less tissue paper? I have the poster board in there now at least.
Anyway I made these card fronts for my Card Front swap on my Fav MB. The theme was shapes. You had to incorporate some sort of Geometric shape in the background of your cards. I have a stack of paper that has a bunch of this square papers in that I never know what to do with, so it worked out perfect for this! The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's now retired set "Think Happy Thoughts". I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the flower in the center of the sentiment. The flower is embossed with white embossing powder. The speckles are done in VersaMark's Dazzle ink.
As usual lately, I couldn't decide where to put the sentiment, so I didn't attach it. I originally used this sketch for the card, but I'm not sure I like the sentiment where they have it, I like it more on the bottom, off to the side.

This is from PageMaps by BeckyFleck, and can be found in the March Card Maps 2008 Archives.

Show me the Love - ACM swap

2011-01-25T21:37:00.001-05:00

One of my goals this year is to take better pictures of my cards. So I made a light box out of one of the empty Girl Scout cookie boxes we have laying around. I have a little more work to do on it. I didn't have any poster board, so I used what I had, kids drawing paper which comes on a roll. It is sort of on the off-white side, but I just wanted to get a feel for the box, so I used it. I also have different kinds of light bulbs. I do have an Ott-lite, but it's on a short bar, so it's on the side. I think it would work better if it was the one that on the top, but like I said I am still playing with it. These are the first pictures that I took.
Anyway, the theme for January's ACM is "Show me the Love". I totally CASED this idea from the WONDERFUL Ilina Crouse. Ilina is a fellow Philly Inker, and her creations are amazing!! I changed up the colors from her card. I used everything I had on hand for these. I have this tablet of 4 x 4 patterned paper that I never know what to do with, and so I used some papers from that. One pattern had stripes (first picture), and one had a damask pattern (second picture). The ribbon is also some that I had on hand. I used the Full Heart punch and the Heart to Heart punches. The large (Full heart) heart I first layered it on white cardstock to give it some thickness. Then I ran it through the BigShot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, and then then used dimensionals to give it dimension. Then to finish it all off, I used a glitter pen to make "stitch" marks around the hearts.

Winter Card

2011-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

How many of us have a ton of fibers and ribbons that you just HAD TO HAVE and when you got them homw wondered "Now what am I going to do with that?" LOL me too! I bought a bunch of Fun Fur yarn, at least I think that's what it was called, because they had it on clearance at a local craft store for dirt cheap! I think it was like $1.00 a skein. Normally it is quite a bit more! So I of course had to have every color! That was at least 2 years ago!
So when I needed to make a winter card for a recent card front swap, I dug out this one. It kind of looks like cold wintery colors don't you think? The blue is Stampin' Up's retired Ballet Blue. The white piece is embossed with a snow flake embossing folder. The snowflake stamp is from Stampin' Up's "Serene Snowflakes" and the sentiments are from "Sincere Salutations". Lately I haven't been able to decide on a sentiment, so I stamped two different ones and included them both along with a scallop oval so that whomever recieves it can decide which occassion they would like to use it for.

A new thing to try - Diamond Folds

2011-01-23T14:02:00.001-05:00

One of my "resolutions" is to try new things this year when crafting. This time I choose Diamond folds. I went into Google.com, and typed in Diamond fold and found a tutorial. There's plenty to choose from. I have very little 12 x 12 cardstock, so I just went with the colors I had on hand. I did use my SU classic ink in Tempting Turquoise on the flower, taken from SU's "Because I Care", and then used my Garden Green stampin' write marker on the stem and leaves. Then I just used a sponge to create the look of patterned paper on the white pieces on the side. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Teeny Tiny Wishes".

I spotted a post by a friend Crystal on Facebook that she'd create something handmade for the first 5 people to respond to her, as long as they agreed to pay it forward and create something for 5 other people. I loved the idea so I re-posted. Sadly I only got 3 takers. :( But I did send the three of them one of these.

Have a happy New Year! And Happy Creating!!!

Repost - Metal look on cards

2011-01-22T00:19:00.000-05:00

I am reposting this from my other blog, as I love the look of this and thought you may find this technique comes in handy too.
I needed to create a Masculine card for one of the swaps I host on my Favorite MB. And my first thought was the great Motorcycle Stampin Up had available last year. Now I will say that I did see this card someplace else, and I can't remember the name of the gal that made it. I did however make some changes. Stampin' Up used to have great metallic papers, but sadly they aren't available. So I made my own! Here's how I did it.

First I took a piece of plain white cardstock and ran it through my adhesive machine. Then I laid that on top of some plain old tinfoil that I had in my kitchen and smoothed it out.

Once that was done, I trimmed it down to the size piece that I needed.

Then I ran it through my BigShot using the Square Lattice embossing folder by Stampin' Up.

Next I used my Mat Pack and pen to make marks where I wanted my large eyelets to go. (This thing is a lifesaver!!)

Then I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch the holes, and set the eyelets.

I wanted my image to sort of look like you were looking at the cycle on an angle so I stamped it kind of crooked.

Next I colored the cycle, and then used a Silver Pen to go along the edge so it had the appearance of a silver mat.

Then I matted a red (also made some Ballet Blue, which is now retired) piece of cardstock on top of some Basic Black, and did the same with the white piece which I had the cycle images on.

And Voila! The finished cards!

Just goes to show that there are things all over your house which you could use to make your cards with!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Cat toys made by my Daughter

2011-01-21T23:48:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share these with you. My daughter came home from school one day all excited because they were doing a charity for our local SPCA. We are both lovers of all animals (okay except rats or mice). So we thought about it and she wanted to make some of these toys. We had made these a few years ago for our cats, and they LOVE them! And they are simple and inexpensive to make.
First we cut strips of a large sheet of fun foam. She picked yellow and black for Bees, and red and black for Lady bugs.

Next we bound them together using zip ties (found in the hardware section of the local big box store), along with some of the curly ribbons they use on helium balloons, to give them some "crinkle". Some had bells, but we didn't have enough bells for all of them.

Then she wanted to make up little "Made by" tags, so here she is adding her name to ones we made on the computer.

And here is the finished products. She made 13 in all, 12 for the shelter, and one for her two cats.

I love that she is following in my "creative" footsteps. For Christmas I got her a rolling tote to keep all of her loose craft odds and ends in. I got tired of them all spread throughout the house. :D

WOW! It's been a while!

2011-01-19T22:17:00.004-05:00

I've just been lounging around!!! LOL Just kidding! This is a picture of my daughter, she was about 9 months old. No hair and look at those chubs!!!

I have been really concentrating on my Stampin' Up blog and trying to keep that one updated, but don't give up on me! I do have some pictures to update here! But if you miss me and want to see what I have been up to, check out my other blog here:

SU Blog: http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/

This special is AMAZING!!!!

2010-11-22T14:05:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to go into business for yourself? Do you love to stamp and scrapbook? Or maybe you have lots of items on your wish list? What about those of you looking for a Demonstrator, and can't find one? Then joining Stampin' Up is the PERFECT choice for you!!! Become your own Demonstrator!! You will receive a discount on your own purchases, as well as make money on any sales that you make! "Share what you love, and love what you do" that's Stampin' Up's motto, and it is so true!!
For a limited time only, until November 30th YOU can join the Stampin' Up family for the low price of only $87.50!!!!!! That is half the normal price, and there is over $310 of stamping and business supplies included! AMAZING!!
You CAN do this, and you can have fun, while making money! You don't need any special training, you don't need to know 100's of people, you just have to love to craft, and want to make money! That's all! Stampin' UP also offers resources for ideas and inspiration via it's own magazine, Stampin' Success, and a website, exclusive to Demonstrators!
If you'd like more information, please check the link http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/gina_thornton/startyourownbusiness. You can also contact me through that link.
Don't wait! Join us TODAY!

Lots of Craft Fair items on my other blog!

2010-10-19T07:54:00.004-04:00

So last night I was working hard at getting a lot of my recent craft fair items on my blog, and after I had a bunch listed I realized I posted them on my other blog, I meant to post them here! ugh.
So if you have the chance and want to see what has been taking up so much of my time, why not hop on over here and check it out?

Don't you just love fairies?

2010-10-19T07:54:00.001-04:00

I love Fairies, they are a cute and enchanting, and love flowers, what could be better?
Want a chance to try to win some?
Check out Enfys's blog for a chance to win!

Craft Sale Pictures

2010-10-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

Okay so I still need to come up with a more appealing way to set up my tables at craft sales. This sale we were outside, and had a bit of wind which was causing problems, but at least we were in the shade,as it was pretty hot out that day! Anyway here is two views of the table, which I shared with my mom. I actually had a whole table set up with cards, but I must not have taken pictures of that table :( I also came across some plastic canvas magnets that I made a while ago, and added them to the table. :)

Items for a craft fair - Popcorn Holders

2010-10-03T13:55:00.002-04:00

Here are more of the items that I made for a recent craft fair. How cute are these? How many people give out Gift Certificates to the movies? Wouldn't it be great to add just a little something extra? These cute little holders come complete with a pack of Microwave popcorn. Slip a gift Certificate inside and Viola instant gift. What fun!

Craft fair items

2010-10-03T13:45:00.000-04:00

I have a lot more of the items that I made recently on my other blog, check them out here:
http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/

Items for a Craft Sale - Bookmarks

2010-10-02T12:50:00.002-04:00

As promised, here are more of the bookmarks that I created for the recent craft fair. Lots of colors for you to choose from! How cute is that little mouse??

Stay tuned tomorrow for more craft fair items....

Items for a Craft Sale - bookmarks

2010-10-01T16:09:00.000-04:00

This is what I have left of these cute Iguana Bookmarks. I forgot to take pictures of them before the sale. These also used the set that I picked up at the craft store in Ohio. I just love this set, and I am sure you will see it again!

Stay tuned for more craft fair items....

Items for a craft Fair - Pencil holders

2010-10-01T15:59:00.006-04:00

On a recent trip to Ohio, I visited a craft store, and found this cute set of stamps. And how cute is that saying? What a cute gift that a teacher could give to a Star Student, or maybe just a reminder to your little one that you love them? Slip it into their book bags for a little reminder during the day. I forgot to take pictures of these before the sale, and this is the last one I had left.

And just wait until you see the matching bookmarks....

Coming soon, a Blog Hop!

2010-09-28T17:48:00.004-04:00

Join us on my "Gina Thornton Stamping" blog on October 9th-11th, for a Breast Cancer Awareness Blog hop! We will be sponsored by the very generous Sarah at http://pinkcricut.com, who will be offering a Gift Certificate to one lucky hopper!
Don't forget to join us!

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN - 9/11 WTC TRIBUTE

2010-09-11T09:42:00.000-04:00

Items for a Craft Fair - Large Tree Tags

2010-09-02T20:37:00.001-04:00

Here's another set of tags that I made for the craft sale. This one used that squeeze tool again with a 3 piece tree. The silver "balls" actually came in a strip that I just trimmed the adhesive in between each one. Again I used some of the patterned paper, ribbons and cardstock from my stash.
As this posts (if it works correctly)I will be on my way to my brother's wedding. I am hoping to get more done so I can schedule it out. If not, I will hopefully have more to post when I get back!

Items for a Craft Fair - Large Reindeer tags

2010-09-01T22:14:00.000-04:00

There's those Reindeer again!! What can I say? I love how cute he/she is! I made some more tags with that squeeze hand die cutter. Well just the reindeer are cut with that, I actually traced and cut out the tags. I know I know, I have a machine to do that, just too lazy to pull it out! Ok so how many of you out there have more patterned paper than you could possibly use in this life time? That's me too! So I decided to put it to good use and make some tags! All of the paper, cardstock and ribbon is stuff I have on hand collecting dust. (At least that's what my hubby thinks!)
Stay tuned, more Craft Fair goodies to come! Oh and don't forget to check out my other blog as I have more goodies on there as well!

Items For a Craft Fair- Altered Butterfly notebook

2010-08-31T13:20:00.003-04:00

This is actually the first notebook I ever altered! I have the second one on my other blog! Along with a few more that will be posted soon. I can't believe how much I was over thinking this! I used the "Flight of the Butterfly" set. And finished it off with some (retired) Old Olive Striped ribbon. What a quick, easy, and not to mention perfect last minute stocking stuffer! Or perhaps a little gift for classmates? I am actually making a bunch of these for the Craft Fair I am doing.

Addicted To Cardmaking Swap - September

2010-08-30T16:45:00.000-04:00

My theme for September was buttons, bows, fibers. I got two out of the three with this card! The vases were, are you ready for this, cut out using my....BUG! I know shocking right? I cut them from a beige piece of cardstock and then sponged some Pacific Point Classic Ink from Stampin' Up on them. Then I sponged the edges as well. The stems are from Stampin' Up's set "Greenhouse Garden". The sentiment is from the new Stampin' Up's hostess set "Because I Care". The flowers were a RAK from someone on my Favorite MB. Sorry that I dont remember who it was! The buttons were from my button jar!

Items for a Craft Fair - Small Reindeer Tags

2010-08-29T22:06:00.003-04:00

I really had to dig stuff out to make these! I pulled out and dusted my original hand operated Die Cut machine for the reindeer on these! It's amazing how far Die cuts have come! Gone are the days where you ended up hurting your hand or bribing your hubby to squeeze the hand tool while he's sitting there watching TV. LOL. Ah but they still have some cute dies! The circle tags were actually cut out using a store's die machine. The store closed, oh 3 years ago maybe. I was wishing they were still around, because I could use more of those handy tags!
Anyway these are for an upcoming Craft Fair that I will be doing in Mid-September. I'm trying to get a bunch done before I go back to work! Also in a few days I will be heading out to Ohio for my brother's wedding. I'm scheduling out a few posts so that I don't slam with you a bunch all at once!

Second Annual Card Swap - Thinking of you

2010-08-29T16:31:00.000-04:00

Ok so I made these also for TexasTam's swap. This was during my creativce slump, they are not at all what I pictured in my mind. I had to change it a few times because I ended up with too much white. These are much better then the second or third attempts! Hopefully they are okay. I wanted to show how if you are short on a piece of cardstock color, you can use the center of a piece and once it is put together, no one will know! I had this really cute pinkish-purple, but not enough to do all of my matting, So I cut the center out of the one piece and so I could still have enough to mat my sentiment. Since it was going onto a white piece to create the card, no one will be able to see that it is missing. That plus since I didn't use a whole piece behind the printed paper, it won't weigh as much when it comes time to send it! The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Three Little Words" set. I also used the Word Window punch and the Scalloped Trim border punches from Stampin Up. A little note about the purple ribbon. When I got married 8 years ago, I made the little favors (along with my mom, and friend). When we were buying supplies we didn't know how much ribbon we were going to need so I just bought a ton. Well this roll was leftover from the ton, and I thought it matched the darker purple flowers in the printed paper, so I thought it was perfect! I told you I have stuff from forever ago! LOL

Second Annual Card Swap - Get Well Soon

2010-08-28T15:23:00.004-04:00

I like how these turned out. I did these for another theme for TexasTam's swap on my favorite MB. I love these girl stamps without the heads! They always have the best sentiments come with them! The sentiment I reserved for inside and it says "A hug to ease your Cough and sneeze" and since they are clear stamps I was also able to line up ""feel Better Soon" directly under that so it looks as though it was one stamp! LOVE IT! (said in a Wheezie-from Dragon Tails-voice.) The background I did with Stampin' Up's Texture plates, then I sanded them down a bit. A little note about the texture plates. If you want a more defined image, spritz the cardstock with rubbing alcohol before embossing it! I then used my handy piercing tool that slides into my new scoring tool. The images was stamped on watercolor paper, and I used my watercolor crayons from Stampin' Up to color it along with my blending pens.

Second Annual Multiple Theme Card Swap - Congrats

2010-08-27T14:17:00.004-04:00

I seem to have hit a creative wall. I had a lot of trouble coming up with a card for this swap, hosted by TexasTam on my favorite MB. The theme for this group was congratulations. I was trying to go for a card that could be used for any Congrats occasion, but I am not sure I accomplished that. Maybe its the colors, which at the time I liked, but now I am unsure. Anyway, I did the sentiment on the computer as I didnt have any stamps large enough. The finsihed card is actually smaller then an
A2. It only measures 4 1/2 x 4 inches. I added the silver "stones" (not sure what you call them) to dress it up a little.

Card Front Swap-September

2010-08-26T14:10:00.001-04:00

Can you believe it? I'm ahead and I'm posting early! WOW!
These are the fronts I made for the monthly swap on my fav MB. The theme for September is "Apples, Pumpkins, or Leaves". I went with an old set from Stampin' Up which I was sad to see retire. It's called "Give Thanks". I then used my Stampin' Up Classic ink pads and my blending pen to color the images once I stamped them on watercolor paper. The pattern on the grey pieces is from Stampin' Up's background stamp called "sanded". It is a nice addition to masculine cards too!

Christmas in July - Santa

2010-08-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

I do believe this is the last set of fronts for the Christmas In July Swap on my favorite MB. The theme for this one is Santa. I love how happy Santa looks in this stamp! I colored the image with my alcohol markers. Then I matted him and embossed the white piece with Stampin' Up's "Perfect Polka Dots" embossing folder. I wanted the background to look sort of like Santa's suit. The stars were punched out with Stampin' Up's small star punch and then I stamped the "Ho" one letter at a time so it would fit. Thank goodness for mini alphabets!

Snowman

2010-08-24T15:59:00.003-04:00

Here's another card I created for a swap hosted by Stephanie Drewa. I do believe her theme was snowmen or snow or something like that. I love how cute this snowman is! Simple. I colored the image in using my Marvelous Markers by Stampin' Up. The snowflakes are punched out using some punches that I have. Then I sprayed them with some glitter spray. The little circle piece is what we, on my fav. MB, refer to as "Skittles" not sure who came up with that name! They are actually sold in the flower section of a local (Big Box) crafting store. You can get a whole bag of them for like $5! Someone in the crafting world caught onto what we were doing and marketed them under a new name, in various colors for $3 for a tiny container! What a rip off! I actually had bought a bunch of them a couple of years ago when the craft store had them on Clearance for $2 a bag! I probably have about a Zillion of them! So I thought it was about time to start using them!!!! :)
The second picture is of the inside, where I stamped "let it snow" and added another snowflake.

Mice Card

2010-08-23T15:41:00.001-04:00

I created these cards using this adorable mouse stamp and it's coordinating sentiment. In our house these are the ONLY mice welcomed! I made these for a swap for a group I belong to on Yahoo. It stemmed from a magazine site that chose to no longer hold swaps. So a few ladies went off on their own, and I do believe that Stephanie Drewa started this group. It's a small group, but sometimes that is nice!
The image is colored using my alcohol markers. (which I am still experimenting with)

I have been working hard today (Sat Aug 14th)at getting all of my recent pictures taken and posted. So far I have them scheduled out until August 23rd! Hopefully by then I will have lots more to share!!!!

Addicted to Cardmaking - July

2010-08-22T15:51:00.001-04:00

The theme for the July Addicted to Cardmaking swap was Fall Colors. I saw this card in a magazine and new I had to try it! After making a couple of boo-boos when tracing the pattern, I finally got it right! I tweaked it a bit making the card smaller than the directions so it would fit into the envelope. I had a bunch of cards/envelopes that I bought as a set many moons ago, and thought the green was perfect for this card. I just had to trim the piece. So the envelope is bigger then the actual card, however, since it is still considered a standard envelope, no additional postage is required! (YEAH!!)Each piece was traced, cut and embossed. Then I put it all together like a puzzle, and did some faux stitching. I finished it off with some Raffia that I had (at least I think that is what it is called!) I couldn't decide if I liked the sentiment or not so I included one in each envelope so the receiver could decide.
I seem to be stuck on Sentiments in case you haven't noticed. I like to include one on cards, but I seem to be stuck in using the same ones each time. So to help me get unstuck, I am skipping the sentiments for a bit!

Monthly Card Front Swap - July

2010-08-21T15:28:00.001-04:00

These are cards I created for the Monthly Card Front swap that I host on my Favorite MB. The theme for July was NonTraditional Colors. I really like this theme. It's nice to step out of the box when making Christmas Cards (as long as you don't step too far out of it!)The reindeer is the FABULOUS Dasher Stamp from Stampin' Up. Then I did a lot of embossing, with lines and snowflakes.A simple and fun card, what could be better?

Christmas in July - Christmas tree

2010-08-21T10:20:00.006-04:00

NOTE: Looks like I made a mistake when posting this earlier this week, so here it is again with the CORRECT picture! Sorry friends!
Here's another for the Christmas in July swap. The theme here was wreaths, trees, etc. I used my Stampin' Up Photo Corner punch to punch out the "branches" of the tree from paper that I have had...forever. Then I used these cute little buttons to make ornaments. Then a little star punch on top, and a trunk for the tree. EASY Peasy! The background was done using a music background punch (which you have probably seen before-see Vintage Christmas). I love how the punch makes trees so easy!

Christmas in July - Traditional Colors

2010-08-20T15:23:00.000-04:00

Here's another Christmas in July swap, Non-Traditional Colors. I have a lot of cute simple, small stamps that I never know what to do with. With the help of the Faux Postage stamp and a coordinating Template, I took a very simple Christmas tree and made it into something even better. The color behind the trees was done with a stipple brush in two shades of green. Then I stamped the flourish on the background piece using the bleach method. I love this technique, and it works especailly well with dark colors.

Christmas In July - Angel

2010-08-19T15:12:00.001-04:00

NOTE another incorrect picture, fixed it, sorry!
You guessed it, another Christmas In July swaps, this time the theme is Heavenly Hosts. It's no secret that I love Angels. And I knew I had to include an Angel theme in the swap this year. Although it wasn't as popular as some of the other themes, we did get a number of participants. I love this angel stamp! I stamped her in Versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder. The back ground stamp used was Stampin' Up's En Francois. Another of my favorites.

Addicted to Cardmaking - Monkeys

2010-08-18T15:04:00.000-04:00

Okay can I tell you how much I love these monkeys???? They are so cute and always look like they are having a ball! I had to make cards for the ACM swap on my Favorite MB. The theme for August is Animals. I originally started this card with a different stamp in mind, but couldn't think of a sentiment so I changed it to these monkeys. I still couldn't think of a proper sentiment, so I opted to leave it blank! But wouldn't it be cute with a "Hope your Birthday is a SPLASH" or "Last one in the pool is a rotten banana"? LOL or something along those lines? All materials used were various stuff I had on hand. And I made two versions, because I was running out of cardstock and had to improvise. The images were colored using my Marvelous Markers from Stampin' Up. The layout from this card I am sure you have seen before, and was CASED from fellow PhillyInker Kristin Kortonick. (Thanks Kristin!!)

Christmas in July - Embossed Pooh

2010-08-16T14:35:00.001-04:00

Here's another one for the Christmas In July swap. The theme for this one is "For the kid in all of us". It's no secret that I love Pooh and all of his friends! So I had to use this cute stamp that I have had...forever! I stamped Pooh and Piglet in StazOn and then used a glitter pen to go over the words, and colored the scene using my Marvelous Markers. Then I ran the white cardstock through my embossing machine with a snowflake folder. Quick easy, and dare I say cute???

If this posts correctly, I will be in New Jersey, crabbing with the family. Hopefully all of those little guys we threw back last month have gotten big and fat!!! :)

Christmas in July Swap - NonTraditional Colors

2010-08-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

Another card for the Christmas In July swap, this theme is Non-Traditional Colors.
I CASED this card from a Fellow PhillyInker Julianna. She had made them for a make and take last year. I used Stampin' Up's Ornament punch to punch the ornaments, and then stamps from a couple of sets to emboss the designs on them. I do believe I used "Priceless" and "Snow Swirled" although I could be wrong about the flourish one. I stamped the image in Versamark and then embossed them with white embossing powder. The scallop edge is done with Stampin' Up's Scalloped edge punch. The cardstock and Patterened paper is all stuff I had on hand. The faux stitching is nice and straight due to my new favorite scoring tool and a handy little piercing tool that fits right into it's grooves.

Christmas In July SWAP - Spirelli Snowflake

2010-08-15T14:15:00.001-04:00

Here's another one for the Card Front Swap. The theme here - Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow! I saw Spirelli cards made before and always wanted to try my hand at them. So here was my chance! I had ordered two templates (metal ones that you trace and then cut out) a while back and just wasn't sure of a project to use them on. Then I came up with this one. I actually used three colors of string, although it is hard to tell in the pictures. There is a gold, bronze, and white metallic string. Although it took a little getting used to, it was pretty neat! And depending how many points you skip, it changes the size of the center space. Pretty cool! Then I used Stampin' Up's Simple snowflake, and another smaller snowflake punch I had and punched out the the flakes. Then I pulled out some glitter spray and sprayed the flakes and some of the blue backgrounds. Some of the Blue backgrounds I did were sanded for a different look. Hmm come to think of it didn't take pictures of those. I may have to pull the camera back out! The background pieces are embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. The sentiment is a new one for me from the Many Merry Messages set from Stampin' Up. Which I trimmed down, made it look like a tag and stapled a ribbon on. I wasn't sure of the sentiment though, so I didn't adhere them. I thought the receiver could decide what she liked.

LOL - A note about the pictures

2010-08-14T16:31:00.003-04:00

I was updating the pictures on the side bar when I noticed that in the two pictures of my daughter, she has the same suit on. It really is a year difference! The suit is getting small, so it will be the last year she will be able to wear it!
Oh and PS as you can see, it's hard to get a good picture of my son where he isn't being silly!

Pop Top Pumpkins!

2010-08-14T16:05:00.003-04:00

Funny story. I receive emails form different companies that have tutorials and such. One lazy morning I was watching a video and the woman says that you can use the pop tops to soda cans as embellies, and something along the lines of 'don;t throw anything out' and I start laughing.My hubby came in to see why I was laughing and I showed him the part of the video. And I tell him "I just heard a million husbands out there sigh!" LOL. Anyway, I used my alcohol markers to color the pop top then sat aside to dry. I stamped the image then ran it upside down through my adhesive machine, then sprinkled it with clear glitter. Then I colored the twill using a distress ink stamp pad, and then again with another color distress ink. I stamped the sentiment and added the embossed lines. By the way this was the card I was making when I decided I NEEDED the ScorBuddy!!!
These were made for another of Stephanie Drewa's swps.

Christmas In July SWAP-Snowmen

2010-08-14T14:07:00.003-04:00

It's that time again! The Christmas In July Card Front Swap on my favorite MB! This year we had a few different themes to choose from. This one is for the Cold Twigs, Warm Heart (aka Snowmen) theme. I first stamped the snowman onto a plain piece of white cardstock, then created a mask. I also created a mask for the moon using a circle punch. I sponged on some of Stampin' Up's Basic Grey, then Bashful Blue all around. Then I colored the snowman in using various Stampin' Up's Marvelous Markers. The edges I embossed with my new favorite toy, the ScoreBuddy which I ordered at a recent Convention.
More Christmas cards to follow, I am spacing them out over the next couple of days! Oh and PS sorry for the angle of the photos. I need to get down lower next time, but on the upside you are able to see the embossing!

Family Invitations

2010-08-07T12:13:00.001-04:00

I'm supposed to be getting ready for Cheyenne's 7th Birthday party with her friends, but I wanted to share this with you all first. These were the invitations we made for her family party. She wanted to do a theme party rather then a character party. Fine with me, we can make the decorations! So these are the invitations we came up with. We used my favorite bug to cut the cone and scoops of ice cream. As I sat there looking at them, they were lacking something. So I pulled out my sponges and ink pads and distressed the edges of the scoops. Then I ran the cones through my embossing machine using the Moasiacs folder. I distressed and inked the cones. Much better! It's true, it is all in the details!!!! Then I distressed the background piece, and typed the sentiment on the computer. Cute, and fun invitations! Oh and can we say cheap? All of the materials used were things I had on hand. Cheyenne picked out the colors she wanted to use. Oh and by the way, we found a cute Ice Cream cone pinata!! Perfect!
I have lots of cards to post, maybe I will get time when we get back from the party!
Hopefully Mr Sun will keep on shining!

Cricut Card Fairy Blog Hop

2010-07-16T11:05:00.004-04:00

Hey all of you crafters out there! Have you done the Hop yet today???? Join us for the first ever Cricut Card Fairy Blog Hop this weekend! All the fun begins here at The Commander of the Fairy Army, Crystal's blog: http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
Check it out, and let the Fairies know what a great job they all do with the Missions (622 Missions since April 2008)they do!

Here crabby crabby.....

2010-07-13T20:44:00.004-04:00

This week while David was off of work, we took the kids crabbing in Tuckerton, NJ. It was the first time either of them had crabbed (although Cheyenne watched us crab once when she was little) They had a great time! We weren't there long when Cheyenne pulled in her first crab! Too small. Not long later she pulled in a SHRIMP! That is what I am holding in my hand. Those little things sure are slippery! We pulled in LOTS of little crabs, but only one "keeper". We'll go back again, and hopefully this time, we will bring home LOTS! Oh, PS the one keeper and the shrimp got thrown back to the sea!

Christmas in July - Vintage

2010-07-13T20:05:00.008-04:00

I am hosting a Christmas In July swap over on my fav MB. We have a few different themes to choose from, one of which is Vintage Christmas. A good friend JeanP is always trying to encourage Vintage, and I finally took the plunge. I don't have any vintage stamps, etc, and she said that's okay, look at this site: vintageholidaycrafts.com/
They have LOTS of Vintage goodies there, for all sorts of occasions! Now the original image was in color (red) but I used a photo editing program and changed it to black and white. I printed that out on white, used my handy nestling dies cut the images out in a smaller oval, and then I stared at it for a while. Now what? I started daydreaming, and looked out my window, and there on the window sill was a bottle of Walnut Ink. OK, I'll try it. While that was drying I pulled the dies back out and cut the red with the next size up. And I sat and stared some more. I searched the web for a vintage looking Christmas sheet music, but couldn't find anything that didn't look too "modern" . Ok back to my stamps. Oh I had a music background, perfect. Then I sat there trying to hum the notes in my head to see what song it was. Still haven't figured that out. So I stamped that in my Soft Suede stamp pad (Stampin' Up). But it still looked too....new. Ok distress time! I rubbed my Soft Suede stamp pad all around the green making it kind of hard to see the notes at all in some places. Looks good. Now what can I do with the sentiment (came with the image). I had to print and cut a few out so that I could get just the image onto one sheet of cardstock. Did that, and also sprayed them with the Walnut ink. Then I added a strip of cardstock to back the sentiment. Still needs something. OH OH where is that awesome adhesive lace looking strips that someone (and I wish I could remember who so I could thank them!) sent me?? Ah, there it is, added that, (important note/disclaimer - I did have to cut these in half, and position them on each side of the strip of cardstock. Also not all will have the same lace as I just don't have enough of the strips) stuck it down. Ok looks good. I sent a picture off to Jean to see what she thought. While waiting for a response I also added little bronze snaps. PERFECT! Amazing the difference a couple of little snaps make! For a card I was so much "against" I think it turned out well! I love the effect the Walnut Ink had on the white cardstock! It's hard to believe that it really was white! So...what do YOU think???

Watermelon Invites

2010-07-05T18:07:00.003-04:00

So this year Cheyenne and I decided to make her party invitations. We wanted something "summery" and she suggested watermelon. My first thought? Oh no. My second thought? "the bug" So I pulled out my trusty "E" and and we started cutting them out. She wanted to have the white part of the rind as well as some white seeds. So that's what we did. I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do once we cut and assembled the watermelons, and then as I lay awake it came to me. I had this old paper that sort of looked like one of those red and white tablecloths you often see on picnic tables. I thought it would be cute to have a little ant brad on each one, but I had almost every bug but an ant! We may add a sun in the upper corner and add "come join us for something sweet" or something along those lines. I think we did a great job, don't you think? Stay tuned for her Flip Flop cards that she wants to make for her "family party".

Double Embossed Butterfly

2010-07-02T16:39:00.000-04:00

This front is for the June card front swap on my favorite MB. The theme, is you guessed it, Butterflies. I actually took this layout and design from a fellow PhillyInker Melissa. She showed us how to double emboss on a butterfly cut out. The butterfly is cut using Stampin' Up Beautiful Butterflies die. The images are from "Elements of Style". I then sponged yellow all over the image. The speckles on the yellow piece is from the "Itty Bitty Backgrounds" set from SU. I then cut the sentiment out with my circle punches.
All cardstock, ribbon, etc is from stuff I had on hand.

This says it perfectly!

2010-06-30T19:01:00.001-04:00

Not that I am trying to toot my own horn, but I saw this stamp online today and thought it was perfect!

Inside Out

2010-06-30T16:28:00.004-04:00

August's theme for my Card Front Swap on my Fav MB is "Inside Out". We were to create a card front with a matching insert. Here is mine. I used the new Stampin' Up set called "Elements of Style". I stamped it first in Versamark, then used a sparkly embossing powder, then heated it with my SU heat tool. Afterwards I cut the piece into 3 panels. Then I matted it and matted it again. I added some ribbon, then the sentiment (also from Elements of Style) punched out with the oval punch and matted with the scallop oval.

The inside I used the same Elements Of Style stamped in Versamark. It give it a nice subtle print, not too over powering.

Gone Fishing!

2010-06-21T16:09:00.004-04:00

Ah Summer....my daughter is out of school, and I have off for the summer, good times! David and I went and got our fishing licenses the other day. We took the kids fishing, first in Oaks, and then a little park in Plymouth meeting. Our daughter caught her first Bass in Plymouth Meeting! (see the first picture) Our son caught his very first fish in Oaks! (see the second picture. That is his "lucky fishing hat" I believe it is the ship his great grandfather was stationed on while in the Navy) On Sunday (Father's Day) we took the kids to Green Lane Park. I used to go there all the time when I was a kid. Although we did get lots of bites, we didn't catch anything, but I did get these great pictures of the kids (see third and fourth pictures). We ended up going back to Plymouth Meeting, where we had fished the day before (and where she caught the Bass). Cheyenne caught 9 fish! Cameron caught 2, and David and I each caught one. We had fun though, and that is what is important!

A Card for our troops

2010-05-30T15:53:00.007-04:00

Since it is Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to make a Patriotic card today. I found the layout for this card on Unscripted Sketches. It's sketch #55. I think it still needs something, but I was trying to stick to the sketch. Maybe a "God Bless" or "Land of the Free" I will have to check my stash and see what I can find. The "USA" was cut on my favorite electric die cutting machine. The design on the USA is using Stampin' Up's new jumbo roller "Red, White & Blue". The red background was done by ripping up small pieces of cardstock, distressing the edges, and sticking them down and then use Modge Podge on top. (Faux torn Mosiac) After it was dry I didn't like the gloss it had to it (since the rest of the card is matte) so I sanded it down a bit. When I did that it made some of the little air bubbles visible. But actually I think it was pretty cool! The close up shows the pieces, but the air bubbles aren't very visible.

Don't forget to thank a Veteran, and honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that the USA may be free!

Happy Memorial Day

2010-05-30T12:12:00.001-04:00

Here is the song I was talking about. Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day

2010-05-30T12:08:00.002-04:00

I really hope that I am doing this right! I found this song on a blog while I was blog hopping for "Operation Write Home". The song gave me chills hearing it, and I thought in honor of Memorial Day, I would try to post it here. I hope this works!

A Card Campaign - Send them to Sam

2010-05-24T14:16:00.003-04:00

Send them to Sam is a card campaign. Sam is a 5 year old boy who has been recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Lymphoma. I do not personally know this little boy, nor his family. I learned about this campaign here. He is going to be given a map of the globe, as well as a bunch of stickers. Whenever he receives a card, he will add a sticker to the map. Wouldn't it be awesome to have his map filled??? Anyone and everyone is encouraged to "Send them to Sam". Let him know that there are people out there that send their LOVE and SUPPORT. What a small price to pay to brighten a little boy's day! Please hop on over to Pixie Dust Studios and read more about Sam and for his address.

Mother's Day Card - for my Mom

2010-05-18T20:11:00.005-04:00

I used the same basic idea for this card, as for the one below. This time I used Stampin' Up's Heart to Heart punch and punched out the long thin heart. On one flower I did 15 petals, and 13 on the other. I again folded them in half and distressed the edges. This time I used Stampin' Up's 1" circle punch. The flower pot was made using Stampin' Up's ornament punch and I just trimmed the bottom point off to make it flat. Then I gave it a little dimension by adding dimensionals to the back. The background was also embossed using the Perfect Polka dot embossing folder run through my BigShot. The stems were stamped using Stampin' Up's two-step stamp set "Awash With Flowers" (which will be available in the new catalog coming out in July!) Again the sentiment is one i had on hand. The brads and cardstock was also items I had on hand.

Mother's Day Card for my Mother-In-Law

2010-05-18T19:56:00.007-04:00

I was inspired to do this card from some cards that I received in a Card Swap made by Gena Z (sorry Gena, can't think of your whole name) or her MB name MsGenaZep. She had made some flowers similar to this on some of her card fronts for a swap on my favorite MB. I loved it so thought I would try!
For this one, I used Stampin' Up's Full Heart punch. I punched out 10 hearts folded them in half, distressed the edges a bit, and then cut out a circle using SU's 1 3/4" circle. Then I layered them in a circular pattern, added the brad to the center. The leaves I made using the wing from SU's Extra large two-step bird punch. The background is embossed using Stampin' Up's Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, run through my BigShot. The sentiment is from one that I had on hand (NonStampin' Up).

A Color Renovation!

2010-04-07T19:57:00.004-04:00

Have you heard????? Stampin Up announced they are having a Color Renovation! Starting with the new catalog in July 2010, they will be changing around some of the colors available through Stampin' Up!

There will be 10 returning InColors and 5 new colors, as well as some of the colors currently available that we all know and love!

This is going to be HUGE!

Now is the time to stack up on the retiring colors, as once the new catalog comes out in July, they will be gone forever! This includes reinkers, markers, cardstock....

Thank you!

2010-03-30T20:34:00.004-04:00

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has recently posted to my blog!
Often times I feel like no one is really "listening" when I say things, or just don't think my creations are noteworthy, and your words have been very encouraging!!! So thank you!

Also to ScrappySteelersFan, I wanted to say thank you for the link to Melanie May's blog! She has an amazing voice! I thought I would share the link to her blog so that others may enjoy her work!
http://www.blogger.com/www.melaniemaycountry.com