Masculine Series II

While making the other boy card I also came up with this design that can be used for both boys and girls depending on the color combos. This combo definitely works better for boys I think though. I actually gave this card with the brown ribbon to my husband for his birthday. He said it was his favorite of the different combos. I like it because it's simple but sort of elegant in a manly way. I am going to definitely play with it some more to come up with some more color combos and different additions using some different pieces of hardware and possibly some other techniques. I learned the shaving cream technique the other night at the local demo meeting and I think it would work really nicely to make some different swirly designs similar to the background on this one. I am aware though that this one has some actual clear nautical shapes in it... those would be missing from the shaving cream technique but I still think I could come up with some really neat paper that way that would work for this series. Below are the other two card designs in this series so far.

Masculine Series I - Jan 07

I realized while making the Stripes & Flowers Series cards that I didn't really have any cards that would be truly acceptable by boys and men. So I started playing with the different stamps I had that weren't flowery or girly and came up with this card. It could definitely be made more flowery for girls but it works with these colors for boys and men. At this time there is only the one color combo and design for this card, but there will be more in the future as I've gotten some more stamps, ink colors, and paper.

Birthday Gifts for Rebecca's Kids - Feb 2007

I made all of the following items quickly for Rebecca's kids. They have birthdays near Christmas so they don't celebrate until the end of February. I was able to get these made just in time to send out and get them to her before the birthday party. I made 8 bags and 8 bags and then individual birthday cards of the kids. I believe I missed on birthday card but was able to just send a pre-made one that I got with my house-mouse order. Next year I'll be prepared and will come up with a hand-made design for all of the individual birthday cards. I'm only going to post 2 of the big bags because posting all 8 when they're basically the same would just be a waste of room in the blog and would take alot of time and since I have so many more things to post I don't want to take the time to do that.

Delight In Life Series - Feb 2007

This is one of my very favorites. I love the Delight in Life Stamp Set and earned it during Sell-A-Bration by making a $50 purchase. It is so flexible... you can use the flowers to make springy flowers or even put them together in red to make poinsettia. I really hope this set doesn't get retired or at least shows up in the main catalog in July so that I can use it for some swaps in the future. I really like the set. I guess it doesn't matter if they bring it back or not because I'll still keep and use it anyway... I just won't get to demonstrate it to anyone else. :( Such is life I guess. Have I said how much I love this stamp set. I'm selling the above pictured delight in life birthday card gift bag set on my friend Rebecca's website for charity. If you're interested please check out her website at http://www.enchantedmoods.com/ There is also a link to the left. So far I have made 2 versions of the bag and 3 versions of the cards using this set. I love it very much and will add to this series as time goes on for sure.

Flowers, Buckles, & Presents - Oh My! - Jan 07

This card was also suppose to be part of the Stripes & Flowers series but was also just different enough that I decided to create its own series. There will be more cards to join this series in the future. ENJOY!!!

Flowers & Stripe Series - Jan 2007

This card is the only card made so far for this series but I plan on making some more to go with it very soon. It originally was going to be part of the Stripes & Flowers Series but was just different enough that I thought I better put it in its own series. Enjoy!

Stripes & Flowers Series - Jan 2007

I was playing around with different card designs one night and came up with the following designs. I thought they were sort of pretty and definitely made with some different color combos then I would normally choose on my own. I guess having to coordinate the colors with the print paper played a part in that, but they still turned out really nice. Some of the cards are for birthdays and others just say Thanks.

Sell-A-Bration Open House - Jan 2007

Every so often my upline has an Open House in which she shows off the newest Stampin' Up stuff and has a make an take for everyone to make and enjoy. At this year's event she showcased the Polka Dots & Paisley set from the Spring Mini and explained that if you signed up as a demonstrator during Sell-A-Bration that you would get this set for free in your demo kit. I was so excited. I wasn't sure about this set originally but after getting it for free and then playing around with it some I've grown to really like it. It is not my favorite but it is definitely up there on the list of favorites. What has definitely helped me get more use out of my different stamp sets is to look at different stamping/card/scrapbooking magazines for ideas and then just playing around trying to create stuff that resembles the ideas on the books and magazines but with the stuff I already have in my stamping stash. I also spend alot of time checking out other people's galleries on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ It's a great site for ideas. Membership is free too which is a plus. I have a link to my gallery under my profile if you'd like to see more of projects. In that gallery it also has a list of supplies I used to create the design so that is also helpful. If you want a better list or exact measurements feel free to email me and I can come up with those for you that way. Anyway... this was one of the first cards that got me thinking more towards spring and less towards making cards for next Christmas already. I'm still thinking about that don't get me wrong but I have put those plans on hold until I can get some spring, Easter, and brighter colored cards made first. Enjoy!!!

Valentine's Day Baggies - Feb 2007

Since my hubby liked the Christmas treat baggies so very much he decided I should make some for valentine's day too. I said okay and asked if 50 or so would be enough... yeah.... I wish that was all he needed... I ended up making just over 500 of these cute little mice baggies filled with 2 shades of pink, red, and white M&M's. Thank god they were on sale or else it would have cost me a small fortune. I think it still did but it has been well worth it the cost and headaches, which I'm not going to get into. Regardless, now he wants me to make him some for Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, etc. I must have been crazy when I agreed to do these but now he thinks because he's given candies to 1 of the 2 weeks on his Schwan's route that he should give them to the other week now for Easter. I'm not so sure but I can tell you one thing I'll start working on them and if he complains even one little bit about coloring the darn mice in that's it, I'm not finishing them and I'm sure as heck not going to agree to make any more in the future. He's already picked out 2 different Easter House-Mouse Designs to use on them, and I've agreed that while at my parents this weekend I'll work on getting some of them stamped and more cut out so he can start coloring now for instead of the last minute like last time. I think if this goes well and he thinks he's wanting to do this for Halloween or any other holiday that I'll get a container and start putting the cut and stamped pieces in there in advance for now one. It sounds like a wonderful idea. I know it will be worth it because when we did it for valentine's day his Schwan's sales went up and when you're paid solely on commission as he and every other Schwan's man is any increase in sales is a good thing. Keep this in mind the next time a Schwan's man comes to your door and tries to sell you some of their delicious food. Also... just because you're on some sort of diet doesn't mean you can't eat their food. It is really easy to figure up the point values on the sides of the boxes, if you're doing flex plan through weight watchers. It's probably a little trickier if you're on core plan or some other diet but even then there is something in the book you can order. Just keep this in mind next time, I know I appreciate it because without buying customers it becomes really hard to pay our bills. They always get paid because I too hold a full-time job but it's still very difficult.

January Technique Class - 2007

It's now 2007 and I have had 2 technique classes and an open house and still don't have my past cards all posted. I'm going to do my best at getting most of them posted today. Hopefully, I can get caught up and stay caught up. LOL.

Here are the cards and other items I made at the January Technique Class I attend... Enjoy!!!

The first is a scrapbook page. I have since added 1 photo where the white is at using the corner piece that is sort of just hanging there lopsided. I haven't figured out what photo or journaling words to write or attach to the blue square yet. This tells you how indesive I am especially when it comes to scrapbooking.

The second card is from the Remembering Me Card Kit... The kit comes with everything you need to make several copies of several different designs. We did alittle twist on it because we used embossing powder for the words and we used slightly different colors then what came with the kit but it was understandable because the demostrator teaching the class didn't want to use everything in her kit to teach the class. If she had she wouldn't have had anything left to show us what all came with the kit and how handy and helpful it was to buy such a kit, especially for those who were just starting out.

The third card is a "Shaker" card. It has beads and glitter in the window by the bug. It is very cute and I am hoping to take the idea and make some different ones for weddings and babies and such.