Inky Button - Ink Along With Me

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a.......CARD!

Hello Sistahs!

Yes, look it's a card! I mean seriously, it's been long enough hasn't it? Well, there's an interesting story that goes along with this particular card, or at least I think so. He He He!

So my friend Jen got married on June 21st. It was a beautiful wedding, and I was so proud of myself for the fact that I left myself enough time to make a card using her wedding colors, or so I thought. I have no idea why I thought her colors were Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion and Pumpkin Pie. But I was bound and determined to create a card using those colors. Well, I was right with the Pink Passion and Pumpkin Pie, but it was BLACK instead. And when did I figure this out? When I was walking into the ceremony and picked up one of her gorgeous programs and saw that she used black with the other two accent colors. DOH! Here's the worst part, I was at the very same crop with her when she was assembling her programs! Hello McFly!

I think she still loves me even though I'm the biggest dork in the world.

So, now for the details. I used Papertrey's "Eat Cake" set to make this card, however, I didn't do the set justice. It has an adorable scallop along the bottom of each layer, and I managed to mangle it because I knew I wanted to put flowers between the layers, and as I was cutting, it was way too difficult to see the scallops because I used Iridescent Ice to emboss the cake and the more I tried, the worse it looked. So I decided to just trim off the scallops and call it good. I used the Fiskars Flower hole punch to make the flowers, which in my humble opinion, were the perfect size for the layers. I also wanted to put ribbon on the card, but decided I liked the baubles instead, mostly because it's hard to match that pink and they really were just accent colors. All-in-all I was pretty pleased with the card even though it should have been black. ARGH! Oh well, maybe for her anniversary I'll get it right.

Before I go, I had to leave you all with a PSA....

There is a great giveaway happening at Storage Units, Ink & More. Today is the last day you can enter, so pop on over and let them know what kind of stamp sets you'd like to see them create! You can win some copics, 6 sets of stamps, a set of acrylic blocks and so much more. While you're there, you can also check out their ink pad storage system. They are a great way to store your pads, definitely worth the investment. I've had their site flagged with the intention of purchasing one of their storage systems for myself.

More to come later, I'm off to stamp with my buddies!!

And the winner is....

Using the husband random number generator....(Highly technical: I asked my hubby to pick a number between 1 -10)...and he chose #7 Joan Hajek

I would make mosaic stamps with them. Save those bits of trim from your rubber stamps when you cut them out and then apply the trims to the blocks. Create your own background stamps!

Joan, please e-mail me your snail mail addy so I can send you your goodies!!

I loved each and every suggestion everyone gave me. I know I am definitely going to try them out. I spent the weekend with my family and took plenty of great photos so I can try the fabulous suggestions of mounting photos on the blocks. I love the idea of adding velcro for alcohol inks and also the idea of saving my rubber scraps to create a mosaic background stamp. Magnets could totally be fun too! I can hardly wait to start playing now. Thank you all for sharing your creativity with me! Am I lucky or what?

The good news? I finally got my computer back. So I'll be posting a card soon! Woo Hoo!

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

And the Magic 8-ball says...

outlook not so good.  I went to the Apple store today hoping that by some miracle my laptop would be sitting in the "Finished" pile waiting for the Genius to call me to tell me it's ready.  Yeah, not so much.  Instead, it was sitting in the to-do bin waiting for some love.  So not only do I find out that it's not finished, but the replacement part it needs still isn't in.  Once the part comes in they said it will take 3-5 days.  WHAT?!?!?!  So I guess that means I won't be posting fun and wonderful things this weekend.  *insert sad face here* 

On the bright side, I'm getting some wonderful ideas for my wooden blocks!  I'm going to be with a great majority of my family this weekend so I'm going to take tons of pictures and see if I can't make some photo blocks.  (If nothing else, it will make for another great calendar for my Mother-in-law.)  Please keep the ideas rolling in!

On an even sunnier side, Stamping Bella is giving you free shipping with a purchase of $45 or more through July 1st.  How awesome is that?  If you have ever wanted to purchase some Bellas now is the time!  I must however give you this warning: They are so fun and adorable, that once you purchase them, you are guaranteed to have another shopping cart full before your first order even arrives.  They are highly addictive and you run the risk of becoming an Addictabella. "Hi! My name's Angela, and I'm an Addictabella."  Well, what are you waiting for?  Have fun filling your cart, and give Em my love.

Happy Thursday Sistahs!!

I'm still here!

Sorry for neglecting you all, but my laptop is still in the shop.  *so sad*  I decided to suck it up and just have them fix it for me.  I think they promised to have it back to me no later than Friday.  (Cross your fingers and wish me luck.)  The good news is: Since I have not been able to do as much blog-hopping as I usually do, I have been working diligently on cards, so when I get it back, there will be a plethora of fun stuff for you to see!  Yay! 

In the mean time, I'm working on a post about mounting Stampin' Up! stamps so that they can be used with acrylic blocks.  It saves me so much space by mounting them this way that I just have to share with my sistahs.  The only down side is, I now have a bajillion wooden stampin' blocks and I just haven't found something brilliantly creative to make with them.  I'd like it to be practical, but I'll settle for impractical if I must.  Any suggestions?

Ooooh!  I know, how about some blog candy?  It seems appropriate doesn't it?  I will send out a summer goodie package to the winner.  What do you have to do?  Simple, give me your best idea of what to do with those darn wooden blocks.  There are a variety of sizes so no idea is too big or too small.  I'll choose a winner on Sunday June 29th. 

****Edited to add this photo.  Sorry it's so dark.****

Thanks for your patience with me!

$163.00

That's how much it's going to cost to fix my computer.  ARGH!  I didn't think I would have time to make it into the Apple Store today, but as luck would have it, they had an appointment available at the most opportune time for me.  Yay! So I go in, thinking that they are going to reach in, pull out the tip of the charger that broke off and got stuck in my charger socket, and send me on my merry way.  (These are all highly technical terms by the way.)  But no!  The guy looks at me, and says, "It's not under warranty anymore."  And once you hear those words, you kinda know you're screwed.  It's quite old, as far as computers go, and it only needs to last me a few more years before I finally give in and buy a new one.  So I brace myself and hope for the best.

Now, $163, while not astronomical, is still a pretty penny to a full-time student/part-time nanny.  Plus you figure I'm going to have to buy a new charger ($80) since the other once is now broken with part of it still being stuck in my computer, which brings my total up to $243.  Doesn't that translate into an awful lot of stamps?  And Papertrey just came out with some awfully cute ones in their June release.  Suddenly I'm thinkin', "Who needs a computer?"

Well, the Genius, (that's what the Apple tech people are called so I'm not being facetious,) tells me that they can't just open up that part and take the tip out; they have to replace the whole part which is connected to my logic board. Then all I heard was blah blah blah. But he did draw some great pictures showing me what needed to take place and why the tip couldn't be reached with tweezers.  Needless to say, not what I wanted to happen.  I explained to him that I wasn't too thrilled about the fact that I had to replace the whole thing AND buy a new power cord to boot.  And what did he do then?  He did what any respectable Genius would do, and offered to replace my charger for free.  That's right sistahs, FREE!  Now, you know I jumped at that opportunity because that $80 gets me free shipping and some adorable stamp sets from Papertrey.  But I digress.

So I opted to take my computer home with me so I can try to get the darn thing out on my own.  I know my chances of being successful are slim to none, but I feel like I need to at least try.  I told the guy that his chances of seeing me again tomorrow are pretty good, and thanked him very much for replacing my charger for me.  He truly was a nice guy.

Sadly, I leave you again without a picture of the card I made.  Hopefully I'll be up and running again soon.  (You'll be able to tell if I was able to fix it myself because I'll be posting a bunch of Papertrey creations.  *wink) 

Here's to a Terrific Thursday!

Thanks for your patience with me!

Frosty is coming to town.

No, not the real Frosty, but the card I made using Stampingbella's frosty.  However, you're going to have to wait to see the card.  Since my laptop still hasn't been in to see the computer doctor I can't post photos.  The computer I'm on now doesn't have the editing software that I usually use, so I can't crop, watermark or adjust anything without adding an extra 5 hours to my evening.  So, hopefully I'll be able to post a photo later this evening.

Thanks for your patience with me!

Me and my big ideas!

My intentions are always the best when it comes to making cards, especially Christmas/Holiday Cards. I start thinking about it in October telling myself that I have plenty of time to make cards for family and friends. The next thing I know, it's Thanksgiving and I haven't made one single card and then I blink and it's already Christmas. OOPS! Maybe I'll get some Happy New Year cards sent out. (Yeah right.)

So this year, I decide I'm going to be different; I'm going to make my cards ahead of time so when October comes around, I've already finished my holiday cards and can focus on making cards I can box up and sell. Brilliant! Since I know I'm not the only one in the world with this dilemma, I call my best friend and let her in on the big idea. With all the confidence in the world we vow to each other to make 10 holiday cards a month. (Is this sounding familiar to anyone yet?) We pinkie shake and now we know we are ready to take on the world!!

Fast-forward to March. My holiday card count? 0. That's right, a big fat goose egg, none, nada, zilch, zip. My BFF's count? 2. GASP! By March we should already be 20 cards in a piece and working toward our 30. Between the two of us shouldn't we at least have 20? Nope, not us. We are SLACKERS. Which our other stamping buddies do not hesitate to throw in our faces every time we get together. In fact, it has become the running joke. Ouch! Just twist the knife a little harder why don't ya?

So what do we do? Do we throw in the towel allowing everyone to taunt us with their, "How many Christmas cards have you made so far?" *insert taunting laugh here* Nope, not us! We put our big girl panties on, grab our ink and paper, and we get busy. Well...sort of. It's now June 16th and my card count is about 50. I say about because we went to Archiver's today to devote time to our cause, and no matter how prepared I think I am, I inevitably leave everything I need at home. (Read here: scalloped punches, ribbon, Copic markers and Brilliance ink pad which I just gushed about the other day. GEEZ!)

So I designed two cards and cut enough paper to make 10 of each. Now I just need to stamp a few images, color and assemble. One of the cards is still missing something so I'll post as soon as I get that taken care of, and this card is the one that just needed a little scalloped punch love. I wanted to keep it simple because my intention is to mail these and I definitely don't want the postal machines to destroy my hard work. So I resisted the urge to add bling and just used Dimensionals. What do you think?

I love the fun colors in this one because you can only make so many red and green cards before you want to poke your eyes out with a shrimp fork.  Trust me on this one.

As for my BFF?  Her count is at a healthy 22.  (In her defense, she did make over 70 graduation/birthday invitations recently.)  But, since we've been friends for over 20 years, I can say that I'm kickin' some booty, even though it's not a competition. (It's not a competition, it's not a competition, it's not a competition....)

I hope to have the rest of the cards done by the end of the week, and I'll keep you updated on our progress with the competition err...holiday card extravaganza.

*Computer update for those interested*

Since I was stamping all day, I did not get a chance to take my computer into the Apple Store, so I am going to make an appointment for tomorrow.  I'm sure you're asking yourself, "If she doesn't have her computer, how on earth is she still blogging?" The answer is simple: I am married to an amazingly wonderful man who happens to LOVE computers and other electronic gadgets.  And while I may complain about the number of computers/gadgets we have in our home, let it be known, that I am thankful that he doesn't always listen to me.  For if he had, I would not be here at 1:00 am typing to you now.

Cheers!

RAKabella and some computer drama.

The nicest thing about checking the mail is when you open the mailbox, find a piece of mail addressed to you, and it's not a bill! I received this sweet RAK in the mail Saturday from Kimberlee. I belong to the Bellaholics Anonymous Yahoo Group and was RAK'd. This is a double fold card (not even sure if that's the technical term for it,) and it opens to her warm sentiment. Thank you SO MUCH Kimberlee, you totally made my day!

Now for the drama. I plugged in my laptop, which I happen to love and cannot live without, and the prong inside the charger cord broke off into my computer! This normally wouldn't be so bad, but I need my computer tomorrow because I'm meeting my Dear Stamping Friend at one of our favorite croppin' places to design her business cards, and I can't charge my flippin' battery! ARGH! So, as much as I'd love to hang out and blog some more, I need to power down and save what little battery I have left for our design fest in the morn'.

Thank you to all the sistahs who have left me such warm and welcoming comments!

More tomorrow!

Bella for Mommy!

Don't you just love this image? I do! My Sister-in-law has to be one of the cutest pregnant women ever. She's so petite and wears pregnancy well. When we first found out she was going to be a mommy, I immediately made this card for her. Unfortunately, she lives in Arizona so I haven't seen her in a while, but my mom sees her all the time and gives me the updates. We are so excited and can't wait to meet our new nephew. Okay, enough about her, back to the card!

This was one of my first attempts at using my Copics. As you can see, I still need more work, but practice makes perfect and I love to practice with these fun colors. I have tried many different black pigment inks and found that Brilliance Graphite (set with a heat gun,) works best. Since the Copics are alcohol markers, alcohol ink like StazOn doesn't work well at all; it ends up smearing and ruining the image no matter how careful you think you're being. Some folks have found success with Palette Noir and VersaFine Onyx, but neither worked for me as well as the Brilliance Graphite did.

One of my favorite accessories (other than BLING,) is Glossy Accents. You can see it in her hair and on the pickle jar, and on the glass holding the ice cream. Not only is it great for adding some fun accents, it is also a great adhesive! I used it to adhere the baubles in the corners. Since it dries clear, you can use it to adhere almost anything, including ribbon. (Bonus tip: It's also great if you're in a pinch and need an adhesive for die-cut letters that have those fine lines that your other adhesives might be too big/thick for.)

My other favorite tool? Well that's actually a hard one because I truly love them all...but since we're talking about this card in particular, I will say it's my Scor-Pal. I absolutely LOVE it. I am so glad that I didn't buy any other scoring tools out there because this one is definitely worth every penny and is so versatile. For the "lattice" background on the green piece of cardstock, I lined up the upper left-hand corner and the lower right-hand corner along the same groove at 5". I scored it along the 5" line then proceeded to score 1/2" out toward the corners in both directions. Then I just turned the paper so the opposite corners were lined up at the 5" score and repeated. (If this sounds too confusing let me know, maybe I can post photos demonstrating this.)

Well, thanks for stopping by again to see what I've been up to! I'll be posting a super simple graduation card later today, but first, I must sleep! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend with all the Fathers out there!

Much Love

Bellas Are Coming!!!

I think it's only appropriate that I begin my blog this way. I think I was one of Em's first 15 a few years ago when she first began Stamping Bella. Since then, I have become a true Addictabella. I have also been trying to get the Bellas here in Colorado but haven't been able to get a bite from a local scrapbooking store (LSS) until recently. So sistahs, I am proud to announce, "The Bellas are coming!" And I am so happy I could run outside and shout it from the rooftops. But instead I figured it was time to start a blog, and to me, this is much better than shouting from the rooftops because
1. Not all my neighbors will even know what the heck I'm talking about and will start look at me funny.
2. I figure if you're here reading it, then why shout? I can save my voice for other good in the world.
3. Many of my friends have requested I start a blog, what perfect motivation? Bellas!

I am still working with the LSS to finalize the details, but a Bella party is definitely in order. I promise to post more information as I get it, but here are the general details as I have them.

******UPDATED*******ETA New Date for Bella Release*******

Date: Saturday August 2, 2008 (Subject to change, but looks like it's a go. The date was previously the 26th of July, but has been pushed back to August 2nd)
Place: Scrapbook Destination
On the NE corner of County Line and Holly
(303) 779-0024
Time: Trust me, you're going to want to be here for this, so just plan for the whole day! *wink

In honor of the big day, I'm posting this card I made for the Stamping Bella herself. I submitted it to many a magazine, but no one liked it enough to publish. *cry So instead I will share with you my sistahs, the ones who will appreciate it the most anyway. Hope you likey!

I hope you all enjoy the posts to come!