My Mailbox

As promised, here is a scan of the mailbox card with a letter inside. I think it's so much better than the card I posted on April 14th.


I just used part of a stamp from My Paper Moon, from the Stampsations line, cut it to fit the mailbox, and viola! Done.

Here is a tip you can use: If you have any alcohol wipes (the kind you use to clean your finger before you prick it to test your blood sugar), put a little reinker on it and swipe it across some glossy cardstock. A quick way to make a gorgeous background.

I can't believe it's almost May. The weather here is still somewhat cool, and for as long as I can remember, it's been really, really hot this time of year. I really enjoying it.

Speaking of May, watch for some specials at My Paper Moon, since it's my birthday month (as well as Mother's day and my wedding anniversary). I'll post them here, just for you!

Talk to you again soon...

Relaxing at the beach...

Good afternoon! I hope your weekend is all that you had hoped it would be, and that you are getting to spend some time crafting today.

No, I'm not really relaxing at the beach, just pretending...

Here's what I've been up to:

I tried to follow Michelle Zindorf's tutorial, what do you think? I can't decide which one I like best. I think the bottom one, if the table was brown. What do you think? Post a comment and critique my cards, please. You never know when I might draw a comment out of the hat and send free stamps.

I had some orders from the Virtual Rubber Stamp Convention going on over at Rubber Stamp Chat, so I had to press some rubber this morning. Depending on the weather, that could be a fun thing or it could be a bad thing. There are a lot of variables in pressing rubber, including the weather. But luck was with me this morning and everything pressed beautifully.

It's been a week since I started my diet, and I've lost 10 lbs. Woohoo! I realize it won't all come off that quickly, but what an incentive! Sure does make me want to stick with it.

Talk again soon

New Look and Virtual Rubber Stamp Convention

Two things to be excited about today:

1. The new look of the blog. I wanted it to be light and airy for spring, so I changed the look dramatically. I still have a few tweaks, but they probably won't be as dramatic as the change I made today.

2. There is a Virtual Rubber Stamp Convention at http://www.rubberstampchat.net. This is a great forum and gallery, and a lot of rubber stamp companies have joined together to give you some great deals. Check it out! You might find your favorite company there.

TTFN
Becky

Snowy Egret

Once again Michelle Zindorf has stamped a stunning card using My Paper Moon stamps (http://www.mypapermoon.com/).

Isn't this a gorgeous card? And the colors are stunning. I am so in awe of her work. You can visit her blog at http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/04/20/at-the-end-of-the-day-tutorial/ for step by step instructions to complete this card. Her tutorials are the greatest, if you have never checked out her blog. I look forward every day to see what Michelle has for us.

Now for my personal stuff....As some of you know, I stopped smoking on January 1st. Ahem, now I need to stop eating! Yes, I gained some weight after stopping my disgusting habit of smoking, and now I need to lose that weight. So, Saturday I started a new food regimen. Food regimen....sounds so much better than diet. I'm on day 4 now and so far so good. I haven't fallen off the wagon, even this morning when I thought I was going to have to drink my coffee black. I was going to suck it up and drink it, but my dear hubby found some skimmed milk ( might as well drink the coffee black) just in the nick of time.

I think I will be able to follow this food plan, and I expect to see some good results. I have done this particular regimen once before and lost 64 lbs., so I know it can be done, it's just up to me to do it. I also know I didn't get here in a few days, and I'm not going to get thin in a few days. I am just a very visual person, and I want to see results fast!

So, if you have any words of wisdom for me, I wish you would leave them in the comments section. I can use all the help I can get.

Criss Cross Card

Today I wanted to share my Criss Cross Card with you. This is a cute card to make and very versatile. I like the little card you put in the middle pocket...you can make it for any occasion. I can picture this as a cute birthday card. You could use the middle pocket for the sentiment, tickets, checks, or just about anything you desire.

To make the card, you need:

• 2 pieces of cardstock, 4-1/4 x 11 (card base) (I used 2 different colors, pink and green)
• 1 piece of coordinating paper, 4 x 5 (this was my white layer I stamped on)
• 1 piece of cardstock, 3-3/4 x 5 (for insert)
• 1 piece of cardstock or coordinating paper 3-1/2 x 4-3/4 (to layer on the insert, if desired)

Take the two pieces of cardstock which will make up the card base and score each one at 5-1/2". Take one of the pieces and cut diagonally from the center top to the bottom left. Take the other piece and cut diagonally from the center top to the bottom right. Adhere these together to make the base, putting adhesive along the sides and bottom, leaving the top open. For adhesive, you can use either a glue or the double sided redliner tape.

Stamp on the coordinating layer if you aren't using patterned paper. This is where I stamped my pink flowers. Cut and adhere to the front.

Use the other 2 pieces of cardstock/paper to make your insert. You can stamp, print, and embellish your insert, to name a few.

You can embellish the front of the card as desired, adding a sleeve, flowers, bling, etc. I left mine very plain, so you could see how the card fits together. If you make one and post to your blog, please link back so we can all enjoy your creation.

Talk again soon...

Happy Monday!

Another week has come and gone...and we're back to Monday. Did you have a good weekend? I got to see my 2 sisters who I don't get to see very often, so that was good. My brother and our spouses met them for lunch on Saturday, and we had an enjoyable time. Sunday was just a blah day. One of those days when you don't really want to do a whole lot, so we just kind of vegged out. I did finish my swap ATC's for a group I'm in, so I'm happy about that.

I ordered some cuttlebug folders, but they won't be here until tomorrow, so I'm kind of bummed about that. They should have been here Saturday, but the company I ordered them from mailed them Fed Ex Home Delivery, and I specified that I wanted them shipped to my work address. I would rather get stuff there than to have it sit outside my house all day while I'm gone. And of course, Fed Ex doesn't do home deliveries on Monday.

I completed the above card the other evening, and wanted to share that with you. It was fun to do. I think it needs to have some mail sticking out of the mailbox, though, so I may fix that.

Tomorrow is tax deadline, and to that end, I want to offer Free Shipping for anything ordered from My Paper Moon this week. To receive Free Shipping please enter FSTAX at check-out.

Talk to you again, soon....

Tuesday Technique - Fossil Stone

Good Tuesday morning! It's a beautiful day here on the Treasure Coast of Florida. The weather is gorgeous, and I'm really enjoying it, especially so late in the year. It won't be long before it's hot and muggy, and then I won't be enjoying it at all!

Here is another card I made using the Fossil Stone technique for the background. You can see more of the background on this one. Again, it's a simple process. I use a couple of colors of re-inkers of dye ink. I have used other ink, but the liquidity (is that a word?) of the dye ink seems to do better. I put a few drops of each color randomly on the inside of a page protector. To better allow me to do this, I have cut one long side and the bottom off the page protector so it opens like a book. I close the page protectors and kind of mix the colors with my fingers, being careful not to mix too much so they get muddy. Then I put 2 pieces of glossy cardstock (back to back, glossy sides out) into the page protector, close the cover, and run my brayer over it to move the ink around. When I'm satisfied with the 2 pieces of cardstock, I remove them and let dry. You can usually get 2 sets of glossy cardstock out of this technique. The 2nd set will be lighter. Now I'm ready to stamp my image or use as a background mat.

Hope you can spend some time crafting today. Why don't you post a link to what you're doing?

Talk again soon...

Becky

Happy Monday....

Happy Monday....I think. I am not a big fan of Monday, and if I had my way, it would be a weekly holiday, but then Tuesday would just become the new Monday...and so on...so I guess I just might as well get used to it. I hope some day I can retire...then I might like Mondays. ;-)

This was a fun card to make. The background that the fish was stamped on is a Fossil Stone background, and one of my favorites. It's very easy to do. I put a few drops of several colors of reinkers between a page protector, then put my glossy cardstock in there so the color gets onto the cardstock. You can do 2 pieces of cardstock at a time. I keep moving the cardstock around, and you get all kinds of things that look like fossils on your cardstock.

I used the Moe Wubba fish stamp (you can purchase it here), and colored it in with markers. Then I covered the fish with versamarker and holographic glitter, which I heat set. I glued everything down, and then took my zig-zag stamp from The Angel Company and "stitched" the card with Adirondack "Lettuce" ink.

I think it will make a great Father's Day card, or a birthday card for a male, don't you think?

Talk to you again tomorrow....

Beautifully Made

Whew! Thursday and Friday, I woke up with migraines, which wipe me out. So, I wasn't able to post anything for a few days. This morning I woke up with a headache, but I think it was because it rained during the night, and with the barometric pressure change, I sometimes get headaches. It's gone now, so all is good...

So, this is what I worked on yesterday.



The stamps are all by My Paper Moon and can be found here. The lace on the right hand side is a Mrs. Grossman's sticker. I started by stamping the palm tree half off the page and coloring it in. Then I used a versamarker and clear embossing powder and heat embossed the image. I brayered on aqua ink at an angle, then brayered on aquamarine at the top for contrast. At the bottom I brayered on a clay chalk ink, and wiped the ink off the palm tree. I used a white brilliance and sponged it on between the aqua and the clay to make the wave line. I stamped the "beautifully made" sentiment on the top and glued a gold shell charm on the bottom.

Thanks for taking the time to look. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask....

Talk to you soon.

Freedom in Creating - Ostrich

Ostrich

I'm so excited! Michelle Zindorf has done a tutorial using my ostrich stamp! How cool and exciting is that!?! Here is the card she made.



To see the tutorial, go to her blog at http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/03/31/self-portrait-ostrich-tutorial-2/ She does some great tutorials. You can purchase the stamp here: http://www.mypapermoon.com/

I haven't had much time to stamp, so I don't have anything new to share with you.

I did get my hair cut today, though, and I feel like a new woman. I'm sure I lost 10 lbs. just from the haircut.

Another beautiful day in paradise. It's not too hot, not too cold, it's just right! We still sleep with the windows open, and it's nice and cool at night. It won't be long until we have to turn on the air conditioner, but for now, we are enjoying it while we can.

Talk again soon....