Don't look, Rochelle!!

   Russ and I , along with my mom and my sister, Rochelle and her husband, Mark went to spend the day at our friend, Cindy and Dave's camp in Limington, Maine at the Lake. I'd tell you the name of the lake,but I am not sure I can spell it.. I'll give it a try: Lake Pequawett. I know that's not right,but hopefully it's close.
   We had a great time. The weather was perfect and the food was awesome. Dave grilled steak tips from the Steak House in Scarborough. Yummy....

The pink chair, so Cindy..

Wicked good salads, too.

Is that life jacket too small?

   We sat on the little beach out in front of their camp. Cindy and Dave have alot of lake gear: kayaks, canoe, and flotation items. Mark decided to use a kayak to go out towards the middle of the lake. His oar hit his glasses and as he attempted to catch them, over he went. Lost his glasses to the bottom of the lake. As the guys tried to retrieve them with diving trips to the bottom. We girls got a boat ride from Cindy's friend, Nancy. She can drive/steer a boat. What a boat ride!  Later, Nancy showed us her embroidery work on a child's quilt. Absolutely gorgeous. She sells them... wish I knew a little one that would love one of these beauties.

Rochelle rescuing her husband, Mark.

   It was a great day... We were all pooped from enjoying this funtime.  It's back to the grindstone today. More packing... for our upcoming move to Yarmouth.

For Rochelle...

   I did finish my sister, Rochelle's birthday card last night. Since I am packing up my craftroom today, I wanted to finish all my birthday cards that I need for this month.Who knows how long before I get my craftroom up and running in Yarmouth. SO ROCHELLE, DON'T LOOK!
   I used my Just Rite stamp for the "Happy Birthday" circle, and I used the Kindness set with Spellbinder's new die cut for around the "Happy Birthday" circle. I embossed the design in white. Blue gems finish the look.
  Just Rite has a new stamp set called "Forever Friends". I love the "Sisters Forever" stamp. It's perfect here.... The book die cut is from Spellbinders, too.
   I used Martha Stewart's punch around the page to surround the card. Prima flowers and a butterfly embellish the card. Love the bling on the butterfly.
   This is a stand up card where I used Tim Holtz's brace die cut on the back. Can't wait to give it to her.
   Well, I guess I have to start packing. I will be blogging about the move since my card making "stuff" will be in boxes. I hope all goes smoothly.

Four Step Card for Mom!

   I've been working on a birthday card for my mom. Her birthday is coming up and we are all getting together to celebrate her day. I started by playing with some of the "goodies" I got recently at the Manchester Creative Keepsakes Convention in N.H.
   I was anxious to try out the new Spellbinders Labels die. I don't know what number it is, though. I used dimensionals to lift them a little. Pearls were added to give it a regal touch. I also, tried out Spellbinder's poinsettia nesting die cuts. I love them... They looks great as a regular flower. ( I bought the stamp that makes them looks like a poinsettia.) A mini punch from McGill that looks like a "splat" helped to make the center more interesting. I used Tim Holt's Worn Lipstick distress ink to give the edges of the flower more depth. Dimensionals were used here to again lift the layers.

Gotta love that flower.. My first one!!!

Inside the "four-step" card.

   I made my leaves because "Hello", I didn't have a large enough leaf punch. I will be rectifying that soon.. Anyway, I punched out an oval and used my ragged scissors to make the leaves more lifelike. The edges were distressed with peeled paint ink from Tim Holtz.
   The inside of the card is a "four-step " card. I had seen my sister's three-step card on her blog and absolutely loved it.. She has great directions for hers at Calla Lily Studio Blog. Be sure to check hers out.
   Well, I wanted to try out this fold,but didn't want my card to look exactly like hers, so I began to browse through some blogs. I found this "four-step card" on Smiles, Laura's blog. She has great directions with a visual to go along with it. You can find her directions here: Smiles, Laura .  Her directions give you a card that is 4x5 inch card. I wanted mine to be a little bit bigger, so I kinda added a cover to the front and back to enlarge it. I had to be creative in doing this and was a little worried it might not look right, but I think it looks great. It even give the steps a back when you look at it from the side. Not bad...
   The inside of this card took a little time to embellish. The flowers are from that poinsettia die cut. I just used two of them instead of the whole set. The fern leaf is a punch from McGill. The stem of the large flower is a die cut from Sizzix. I used mini peg stamps for the flowers and mini leaves around the Hero stamp that says "Mother". These stamps can be found at Outlines Rubber Stamp Company  . I bought the oval stamp that the word "Mother" is on at JoAnn's fabric store in their dollar bin. Gems adorn the top and bottom. The butterflies are from Martha Stewart's punches collection.

Happy Birthday, MOM

   The poem I found online, but it says so much that is true for us.
   I have already made another flower to use on another birthday card. They are fun and easy to make. I am also playing with an Outline's stamp where you add gems all over it.. It's really quite the bling...
   Hope Mom enjoys this card. I had wicked fun making it..

Just Right Easter Basket

One side of basket...

   I made this smaller Easter basket today after I saw the ones my sister made for her staff at work. Wicked cute.to her baskets. couldn't help myself. I had to make one,too. I had already made a larger one for my son,but I am not sure which one I am going to give him. He informed me he wanted less candy this  year.. Oh well, he didn't mention anything about homemade cookies..
  Anyway, the idea for this basket came from a gal on Stamp TV. This is the link to help you get the template. It is wicked easy.
http://stamptv.ning.com/video/gift-basket-part-1

Other side...

I used the stuffed bunny Sizzlet from Sizzix's collection. The ribbon I got from Tate's in Bath, Maine. Great place to get really good deals on crafting "stuff". The flowers are from Prima. I used the clear stamps from JoAnn's Fabric store. They were in the dollar bin. Love that bin...
   The other side was pretty simple. I found these cloth cally lilies at Tate's, too. I used the tiny ribbon to accent the flower. I typed the words "He lives" and cut out the paper using Spellbinder's Nesties.
   In the video on Stamp TV, she suggests these baskets are good for small potted flowers. It does look very elegant when you see the video. There is a part 1 and a part 2.  If you want to see some more examples of these baskets, check out my sister's blog: www.callalilystudio.blogspot.com
   Well, I think I might do one more of these just 'cause I love making these baskets. Now who can I give one to for Easter or maybe just for Spring.. Oh, I'll think of someone.

Don't Look, Cindy!!!

   I've been working on a birthday card for my good friend, Cindy. I am hoping she won't look at this post. She's pretty busy, so I think I am safe. "No peeking, Cindy!"
    Anyway, I've only made the sidestep card once, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try it again.  I found  the written directions from this blog: http://creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com/2009/06/side-step-card-tutorial_11.html  It really was not difficult with these directions at all.
     I used five different stamps for this card. The sentiment is a stamp from Stampendous. The "Happy Birthday" stamp is from Hero Arts, and the circle stamp is from Stampin Up called So Many Scallops. I used my SU scallop punch to get the white rim. The long gifts stamp is also from Stampin Up, but I don't know the name of it. If someone knows, please email the name and I will put it on the set.

For Cindy

   I added linked beads and lace around the sentiment. Pink is Cindy's favorite color, I had to use pink on her card. Pink roses from Prima gives the card a feminine look.
   I love Tim Holtz's rosette die cut. I have a heck of a time making it,though. I think I've said this before, but it's no better.  I found a solution that seems to work.  After I have the strip made from the die cut, I put clear postal tape over it. It seems to hold the strip together without ripping when I am folding back and forth. Yipee!!
  The frog is another favorite of Cindy's. I'm pretty sure she calls her car "Kermit" 'cause it's green. This is another stamp from Stampin Up called Pocket Fun. 
     I used Spellbinder's spiky circle and added the white enamel dots with Ranger's Enamel Accents. The paper behind the rosette is wrapping paper that came on a gift. I thought it was pretty, so I kept it and hoped I could use it on another project. Here it is...on this card. I love to recycle.
    I hope Cindy likes this card. She is a special person..like a sister. She helped to get me started into card making. She was our Stampin Up demonstrator for years. Isn't it nice when you can make lasting friends over
glue, glitter, and ink. Thanks for being there, Cindy... Oops....I hope she reads this after her birthday party..

Nature's Sketchbook Stamps

A Seaside palette

A Mediterranean palette

   I am almost finished with the Nature's Sketchbook stamps. Love these stamps and had not used them since I got them. One more stamp, the bird one, and I can check this set off my goal of using all my stamps at least once. I was trying to think of a design and color theme when I happened to pick up the latest Better Homes and Garden magazine. It had some colors put together by interior designers that I thought was quite lovely.
   I used the Seaside palette with the butterfly stamp. Colored pencils, distress inks from Tim Holtz, and Cuttlebug's embossing folder helped to give the card some texture. I made the bow using a simple method I saw on a Youtube tutorial. I will find that and add it to my blog for those of you who are interested.
  I used the Mediterranean palette on the strawberry card.  I love Spellbinder's lacy circle and the spikey circle, so I put them together. This time I used Copic markers to color the strawberries and leaves.
Cuttlebug's dotted Swiss folder gave the card texture. I used the Bow Easy to make this silk bow. I added a Prisma flower with other leaves punched from Martha Stewart's collection and McGill's collection.  The black dots are from Enamel Accents.

Here are more pictures of the cards to give you a better view.


Only one more card to go using this set. I hope to get it done before we leave for Disney. Thanks for looking.....

                             Altered Laughing Cow Boxes
    I have been saving the round Laughing Cow boxes because I love their shape and size. I just hate throwing away a perfectly good container that I could alter somehow. Well, I had two hanging around and decided to give it a go... I love Spellbinders fleur de lis die cut. I used two and placed them at angles. Then I just used decorative paper and covered the sides and top. Spellbinder's nestabilities scalloped circles and lacy circles helped the give the top a little more detail. Then it was just adding prisma flowers that I liked and complimented each box. Lace helped to give each box more of a girlish feel to it.
   I am going to send the red/pink box to my mom for Valentine's Day, although it will be late. I want to fill it with candy. She sees my blog sometimes, so I won't tell you what kind of candy. That will be her surprise.
   I love to alter recyclable items. See what you can do to items around your house. Thanks for looking!