Happy Sunday!

Good morning everyone! It's been a super busy week for me! I've been helping my sister by writing an employee manual for her restaurant, which will be opening within the month, and I'm down to the deadline. Hopefully it will be finished within the next couple days. In between working on the manual, I have taught a Copic class, finished a project I was working on for a certain someone (I will post pics when I mail it out and she receives it so I don't spoil her surprise), started a project for another certain someone, and have been helping my DIL's mother with a few projects that need to be complete before the end of the month. Phew! Somewhere in there, I managed to begin, but not finish a few cards. That's one of the things on my list to work on in between completing the manual. :-)

Last Monday, I completed another quilted ornament to go along with my 4th of July themed insert for my perpetual calendar. At some point, I'd love to be a month ahead in doing these quilted ornaments, but we all know how that goes! I should just take my calendar inserts with me when I go to the fabric store. lol It would make it soooo much easier! Anyhoo... I started and finished the 4th of July ornament last Monday, took pics to post here, and then got tied up in something else (probably dinner) and totally forgot to post! So, here we go. Hope you like them.

This plate insert was done a few years ago in a Stampin' Up! class I took with Kim Cagle. We made a years worth of inserts. They are 6" square and fit perfectly in the center of this glass plate. The plate has 2 BasicGrey magnets on it that link up with 2 magnets on the back of the insert. Little by little I would like to make some new calendar inserts just to switch things up a bit! Variety is the spice of life, you know! :-)

Here is the quilted ornament. I am so pleased with how it turned out. It's exactly how I envisioned it! The only thing that took me *for-evah* was the ribbon top. I can't even tell you how many times I pulled it apart and redid it. Yes, I am a bit, but just a bit (lol), of a perfectionist. Although, I do have to admit that stamping has taught me to be a lot more relaxed when it comes to my art. I don't even really worry about it anymore. Just go with the flow... Makes life soooo much easier! Less stressful. I once read that the Amish women purposely make a mistake in their quilts because no one is perfect but God. After reading that, the pressure to be perfect in my art was off! Now I only try to be perfect in everything else; like that really happens! lmbo I digress... the ornament, back to that. I got the fabric in Wal-Mart last summer. Don't know if they still have it or not. The ribbon around the center is from Wal-mart too. The ribbons at the top are from either Michaels, ACMoore, or Hobby Lobby. They're just your standard thinner width ribbon that I matched up to the fabric. When I do my organizational post on ribbon/embellishments, you will see that I have *tons* of ribbon. What is totally annoying about that, is when I go to do a project and don't like the way any, yes ANY, of the ribbons match up with the project. When you have that many spools of ribbon, you expect to find something in your stash that matches!

Here is the display on my little cabinet that I painted next to my front door. The ornament holder has a lid that creates a box display, but it's harder to take a nice picture with the lid on so I leave it off for the pictures only. My plan is still to do at least 12 of these. I'd like to have a few different ones for like birthdays, anniversary, or whatever special occasion falls between the holidays. And somewhere along the line, I'd like to make a couple baby ones. Not only is my DIL pregnant, but my neighbor's daughter is pregnant too. It would be nice to start a tradition of giving the grandchildren a handmade ornament either at Christmas or on their birthday. Probably birthday though. I can always do something else for Christmas, like, I don't know... how about Christmas ones?? lol

The cabinet the display sits on is something I'm very proud of. I made it well over 10 years ago in a Tole painting class. It took me 3 months to paint of which 10 weeks was in class. There was a lot of painting in between classes to get it finished though. Anyone who sees the cabinet loves it and thinks I should make them to sell! Little do they realize that #1 most people will spend an arm and a leg for something out of the Spiegel catalog, but they won't pay the same price for something handmade and #2 it takes way too much time to paint just one of these, much less several. I will take pictues of it for a post so you all can see it.

OK, gotta run for now. Still working on that darn room! If I don't stop taking on these projects, I'm never going to get it finished! My goal is to have it finished by the end of summer. There. It's written down. On the internet for all to see. I'm committed. Now I guess I'll further commit myself by writing it in *pen* on the calendar. :-)

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and happy stamping til the next time!

Some Cards

It's been a long time since I shared any cards I've made. Well, it's about time! The "big move" has been very long and I never realized how much stuff I have. As I put stuff away, I'm trying to throw/give away anything I may not need. Of course anything that could potentially be needed in the future, goes up in the attic. If I ever do end up with a nice studio space, I'm gonna need all those storage items!

I need to figure out another way to do the coating on the squares. Maybe it's the paper I used... I don't know, but I feel like the iridescent embossing powder got absorbed by the paper which made it look like the powder didn't completely cover. All in all, it turned out cute.

Stamps: SU! In Full Bloom & A Word For You ; C/S: SU! barely banana, mellow moss, pretty in pink; Ink: SU! pretty in pink, regal rose, barely banana, bordering blue, mellow moss; Supplies: SU! iridescent embossing powder, watercolor brush.

This Father's Day card was inspired by a card I saw for a class at ACMoore.

Stamps: Club Scrap car & Studio G sentiment; C/S: SU! going gray, baroque burgundy, basic grey, whisper white; Ink: StazOn black, SU! basic grey & craft white; Supplies: Cuttlebug diamond embossing folder, EK Success border punch (unknown).

More card samples coming your way soon.

Happy stamping til the next time!

AMAZING NEWS!!

Gosh I almost forgot to share the best news ever! We're going to be grandparents. Our son (Eddie) and his wife (Holly) are expecting!!!! I am totally over the top about this! Been waiting for years to be an Oma. 

I went with the kids to their ultrasound appointment on June 17th. Wow! That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. Back when I was pregnant with Eddie, I don't even think I ever had an ultrasound. If I remember right, you had to be high-risk to get one. Anyway, here is a pic of the newest member-to-be of the McCullough clan. Isn't he/she cute?? You could see *everything* when the tech was taking pics. So much is different now compared to 30 years ago. I'm telling you... amazing.

In August, they will have another ultrasound; this is when the sex of the baby will be determined. The kids want to know what the sex is, but with a twist. They want to find out with everyone and be just as surprised so... when the ultrasound is done, the "result" will be put in an envelope. The envelope will be given to a lady they know who makes cakes. She will add the appropriate color to the cake mix for the inside and the outside will be white. They will have a small gathering at their house and when they cut into the cake, we'll all find out together! How cool is that? On Thursday or Friday morning they had a segment on Good Morning American about this being the new thing for parents to do. We've never heard of it before. Just can't wait...

Catch-Up

Boy.... it's been so long since I posted last. So much is going on here! I think I may have mentioned that I was going to move my craft room to a bigger room next door to my current craft room. It's taking waaaaay longer than I thought it would! Because of back issues, I can only do so much each day. The good news is that the move into the new room is almost finished. Woo hoo! Then I still need to straighten out the bedroom that I came from and the hall bathroom that is now filled filled filled with all kinds of stuff. I think if I ever make a move like this again, it will be to an actual studio... OUTSIDE the house! lol I'm really happy with how everything is turning out though. Pictures will follow; maybe even a video once I finish my series on organization. :-)

So my basket that I posted about is completely finished now. I got some styrofoam eggs from ACMoore and painted them a kind of beige-brown color. On several I put a bit of glitter just for some interest. It turned out so nice and I get so many complements on it. Here's the completed basket. My Mom crocheted the "tablecloth" it's sitting on.

During this big move, I've hardly been able to make anything! This basket and 2 cards is it. So not used to that. I'm to the point now where I can do a little more, but I still have stuff to organize/put away so I have some sort of area to create in. The cards, which include a few I made before the "big move," will be shared in the next post.

Have a wonderful weekend. Look for another post later today or tomorrow.

Happy stamping til the next time!

Basket Lift from Lolly

Hey everyone... I finally finished the basket I was working on. The idea is from an online Prima class that Lolly Chessie taught. If you want to see how Lolly did hers, here's the link to the Ustream page: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13238548.

These are the glimmermists I used: apple (mostly), hula hoop, a bit of dragonfly, and finished it off with marshmallow. Most of the flowers were spritzedwith glimmermist even though some were already a color; the glimmermist enhanced the color. Others I bought white specifically to mist with color. All in all, I was very pleased with how they turned out. I even msted the leaves which turned out having just a pretty shimmer to them. The pretty paper that Lolly used for her pleating around the basket was impossibe to find so I went with something I thought was just as pretty and would match the flowers I had picked up. There is a mixture of silk & Prima flowers used. The feather & butterfly came from Hobby Lobby. I found a roll of the lace trim at Michael's in ivory and distressed it with Tim Holtz's old paper ink.

Here it it all finished!

I'm moving my "studio" craft room around and even though I have the paper organization drafted out, I can't take pics til I'm done with the move. I will, however, take pics of the move so you all know NEVER to do this!! It has been so difficult! My friend and neighbor, Wendi, has been a huge help... don't know if I could have done this without her. Although she is the reason I could move or breathe for a few days!! lol I think it will be worth it once I'm completely moved; hubby doesn't think so though... do they ever?

Next week, I'm heading to NJ to bring my Mom home with me. This trip is all about seeing family and old high school friends. I probably won't get to stop anywhere crafty unless I get to One Small Spark in Tuckerton while I'm there. This is the cutest little shop and Patricia, the owner, is a wonderful person!

I'll try to set up a couple of posts ahead of time before I go, but not promising anything. I do have one more small project to finish up for the basket. I bought styrofoam eggs that I'm going to sponge paint in a neutral color with some speckling to give it a more natural look. I couldn't figure out what to put in the basket, since it has so much going on aleady. The eggs should look nice without looking like Easter because that's not what it's supposed to be. I'll post pics when I finish it.

Til the next time...

Travel Journal

Hey all... I know I was going to post about organizing your paper, but I got tied up in a project that had been started last week and it's finished so I wanted to share that today instead. The paper post will still be coming this week.

Prima Live, specifically Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, did an online class of this same basic style of Travel Journal with the Prima Madeleine papers. It was totally gorgeous and really needed no additional embellishing like I did because the paper was so stunning! The online classes are recorded and left up on UStream to view at a later time. If you would like to see this class or any others that have been recorded, here is the link to that website: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13165467. The online classes are lots of fun!

The first video is the Travel Journal that I had completed after attending the online class. For me, it was just a "template" so I would know how to make it. Then at a later date, I could get those awesome Prima papers and make another one. I will apologize in advance if the video quality is poor because I was using my regular camera and not a video camera. So this is the very bare looking travel journal BEFORE I prettied it up.  :-)

Now... the more I looked at the journal, the more I thought that I should just go ahead and complete it. I think the paper is by American Crafts and was actually called Road Trip. They aren't the prettiest of papers so I struggled a bit with exactly what to do with it. I really thought it looked kind of boyish in a way. It took me time to go through all my flowers and then my buttons, brads, and ribbon to see what all matched up to my liking. My color scheme ended up being teal (Lolly should love that), red and yellow orange. Because the ribbon I used to keep the journal closed had a different kind of blue in it (along the lines of Ballet Blue from SU), I pulled some of that blue onto the front cover with the flowers and brads. Here is the total completed project. I'm very happy with it and do think I'm actually going to use it when I take my next road trip.

Hugs, Margaret

Love My Stamping Bellas!!

I have so many Stamping Bellas and I love every single one of them! Not only do I love them, but Holly (my daughter-in-law), loves them as well. She isn't into stamping like I am; however, she appreciates the handmade cards she receives as well as making cards for special occasions. I get such a kick out them being her favorites because whenever she wants to borrow stamps to make a card, I know just which ones she will likely go for. She does a great job too. Her and my son make their annual pig roast invitations every year together. I'm still trying to get them to make Christmas cards. :-)

Last week, before the "creative funk," I made these cards that had been sitting in my to do bin for at least a year. Hope you like it...

Stamps - Stamping Bella Balloonabella; A Muse spiral daisy, astro flower & sakura
Cardstock - Neenah avalanche white, GP white, pink & red from stock, scrap pp
Ink - Memento tuxedo black; SU! pretty in pink, real red, & lavender lace
Copics - R20, R21, R22, E000, E01, E11, YR23, Y23, E35
Supplies/Tools - A Muse sheer red ribbon, 1.25" sheer heart ribbon (Michaels?), small heart punch
Technique - paper piecing


My favorite piecing is the middle card. The colors are so soft and pretty. Haven't decided if I should make these Valentines, I love you or some other type of card. I guess the hearts make it look more Valentines like. 

Keep an eye out for the next part of the organizational series. I'll do my best to get that done this week. I'm thinking paper is the next subject. A lot of people have questions on the best way to organize paper. This doesn't mean I have the best way, but I can show you how I do it and hopefully it will help you.

Til the next time...