Black Boots Friday

(Dad STOP reading! Birthday spoiler ahead…of course, if you’ve gotten your card, read on…)

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had friends over and did the usual – chat, catch up, eat, chat, eat, play games while eating divine rolls that K. and G. made – yes, I have girls that can bake a lovely, fluffy, but lightly crusty sweet roll…mmmm. Even better…they made 2 more batches today!

Every year I buy the turkey days ahead. Every year the turkey sits in the fridge. Every year the turkey is still frozen on Thanksgiving morning! Of course, Jess and I argue over when to buy the turkey and every year he is right. I think he lets me buy the turkey just so he can hear me say that I should have bought it earlier - justifying the 'uh-huh' that he gives me when I say it. I guess we all have to be right some time...heehee! I am so blessed on Turkey Day...Jess and all of my kids pitch in and as the kids have gotten older, I have had to do less cooking. They all look forward to helping out.

The day after was not the usual sleep in and hang out with the family time for me.

I know. I said I wouldn’t do it. But I did. And right now, I’m glad I did it - I got a job! Today was official day #1 – yeah…Black Friday was my first day…a lot to learn, but not difficult. Not even too busy today. I will have to get a good pair of walking shoes, though. Policy dress standard says no blue jeans, no tennis shoes. 5 hours in boots. With a 3 inch heel. What was I thinking?! The black boots did go with the luscious purple shirt I was wearing and they are the only pair of black shoes I had that weren’t open-toed and that worked with the khakis that are 2 inches too long (see 3 inch boots help with 2 inches of pant length…really.)

It was kind of on a whim…I had been considering getting a job, but didn’t think I’d find one that fit into my family schedule. I put in an application, specified some hours and got hired. Just like that. Of course, it’s not the dream job, but so far the hours aren’t bad and the supervisor seems to be working with me on my ‘no Sundays’ preference.

Haven’t had much time to craft, but I did get a birthday card for my dad finished and in the mail. Hopefully, he’s gotten it by now! If not, Happy Belated Birthday, Dad!

By now, most of you know that I really enjoy paper crafting...crafting of any kind really! When I joined Stampin' Up! (SU!) this past March, I wasn't planning to do any kind of 'business' - that is until one day a friend of mine said she'd like to have a workshop (Hi, Staci!) and I said, "yes!" since I thought it would be fun to have a morning of stamping. During the workshop I offered to hold a Stamp Club: a monthly get together where I showcase techniques or products, (usually 2-3 projects that everyone makes at the meeting) according to what the monthly hostess would like to see.

I was pretty surprised when someone said they'd like to be a part of that! Usually Stamp Club is a minimum of 6 people, each person committed to a minimum monthly purchase and taking a month to be the hostess and earning all the hostess benefits for that club meeting - I have 7 gals in my club! Most of them are more familiar with SU! products than I am! They have been so gracious. I couldn't have handpicked a better group myself! THANK YOU GIRLS!!! I have been having a great time!

(All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted. SU! products available online at my website HERE.)

This month our hostess wanted to use some rub ons (SU! only offers a limited selection of product available in 'bulk' for demonstrators, so we only did one card. :( But the selection of rub-ons available to customers is great - so check it out! (Plus they're on special until November 30th!) Here's the first project - a 3x3 card:



(I had made 2 more, but forgot to snap a photo before giving them to the hostess!) This was a breeze to put together! I CASED (Copy And Share Everything) this layout from here. I think I'm going to have to make a matching box to keep the cards in!

Stamps: None! Hidden Garden Rub-Ons
Paper: Bella Rose, Chocolate Chip Textured Cardstock, Very Vanilla Cardstock
Inks: None!
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Photo Corners Punch





This little beauty is the pillow box! I love the simplicity of this project and the many uses it has - small candles, candy, bracelets, cards, pictures, anything you can fit into it! With the gift giving season upon us, I may have to make a few more of these!

These are so customizable. Use designer paper or stamps to decorate the box - make it as complicated or as simple as you like!

Stamps: Bella Toile Background, Curly Label Punch Bundle
Paper: Very Vanilla Cardstock
Ink: Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink, Lavender Lace Classic Ink
Accessories: Black Hemp Twine, Sponge Dauber, Curly Label Punch, Crop-a-dile






Remember this project? (See it here at the bottom of this post.) The Peek-a-Box! Loved it so much - wanted to share it! This time I punched the inside with a circle instead of a square and used some leftover scraps of acetate instead of cellophane for the clear window. The bit of glitz on the top of the box is a Sakura glitter pen. Love how easy it is to put some glitter just where you want it! And man, do these pens glitter! Hmmm...what I can put in here?



Almost forgot...Me, I'm a frugal crafter...that doesn't mean I'm cheap - it just means that I want to have it all at the best price! (heehee!) Normally, if I want something 'popped' up, I use SU! Dimensionals. Their low profile, helps elements to stand out without adding too much bulk. Since this box wasn't going to be packed up, I wanted the layers on top to really stand up, so instead of using Dimensionals, I used the leftover foam from cutting out my stamps - they're about twice as high! You just cut the scrap rubber to size, peel the rubber off the foam piece and stick it! Then peel the cover paper off and stick on your element. What a way to recycle and reuse! (If I'm worried about the foam not sticking well, I just dab a little Tombow Mono on the side where the rubber was and it's good to go!)

Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Paper: Whisper White Cardstock, Kiwi Kiss Cardstock
Inks: Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink, Riding Hood Red Classic Ink, Whisper White Craft Ink, Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Red
Accessories: Dimensionals (or recycle that cut rubbah!), silver brad, Tombow Mono

If you have any questions, let me know! And if you have made any of these projects leave me the link, so I can check it out!

Stampin' Hugs,
Angi

Just wanted to share some cold weather fun! We actually have snow on the ground...granted it's not much, but it'll do for now!

Moving Random Mountains

I know.
It's a bit past the 13th.
At least it's still November!
Still waiting for The Camera,
Wearing my favorite hoodie.

When the kids
and the husband
are offering
to do the laundry...

You might want to do a clean clothes check.

Working on the mountains
of dirty clothes,
piles of papers on my desk.
Where's the burn pile?!
If only we had a fire place.
We probably live in one
of the handful of houses
in DE that do NOT have a fire place.

That's okay.

Only 32 weeks left in this house.

After the MaD (Mom and Dad - we like acronyms...)
room is finished, I'll work on uploading
the projects from yesterday's Stamp Club.
Have to clear the desk first!

Little Stinker

Just a quick post...

I tasked the kids with dinner tonight while I finished up my last assignment...we're having garlic bread (K.) and rotini (G.) - with or without sauce - your choice with a side of buttery corn (J)! Yummy chocolate milk (E.) to wash it all down! Hungry? :)

just submitted my last bio assignment - Yay! Took my math final exam this afternoon and needed some fun! Out came the stamps and a 3x3 card was made! Okay gotta run...kids tell me dinner is ready and Dancing with the Stars is on!

Birthday Glittery Goodness!

My dear, patient daughter (don't expect to see that often!) has had a birthday celebration that has been stretched bit by bit over the last few days. On her birthday, we opened presents! We have a particular tradition of NOT wrapping presents in the traditional way. We blindfold the little ones, trust the older ones to keep their eyes shut and the birthday girl/boy has to guess what they are holding. We have tried to 'trick' them by placing the 'real' gift in other containers...Here is Kyrsten opening the present my brother made for her.



Kyrsten has been 'needing' a new MP3 player for awhile...we found the one she wanted on Amazon only to find out that they didn't ship electronics to APOs! My brother to the rescue! We shipped it to him and then he shipped it to us with a little something extra (the bracelet)...here she is opening her Zune 120.






























We finally had cake and ice cream...Friday morning for breakfast. German Chocolate Cake, homemade cream cheese icing (is there any other kind?), decorated to perfection by Glory, Jonny and Eve!

Happy Birthday, Kyrsten (again)! (Click on picture to see the details!)



This is the card that I made for her - today! She is all about glitter and stars and fun colors...how could I resist?!

The words on the side read: love play laugh grow dream

If you're interested...here's how I made it...

The base is Basic Black cardstock. First, I stamped the tree with Craft White. Later I decided I wanted to emboss it, so I took the Versamarker and colored over the white ink, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder (ep). Swiped the sides of the card with the Craft White. I edged the tree with the Signo White Pen.

Next, I stamped the sentiments on the side using the Versamark pad, sprinkled with sapphire ep and then heat embossed...lovely, right?

I knew that I was going to use a gorgeous, glittery Prima for the moon, so I used the 1 1/4" circle punch to make room for it. Used the Versamarker to edge it, and draw the 'grass' then...used the Versamark pad for the tiny stars! Dusted all in irridescent ep...and you guessed it - heat embossed! (I did mention that this is one of my favorite techniques, right?)

Punched out the stars and dragged the edges across the ink pad - Tempting Turquoise and Orchid Opulence.

Stamped the cat on Shimmery White (love the subtle glow of this cardstock!) and the bird on a piece of patterened scrap paper, both in Chocolate Chip ink.

Cut them out, leaving a thin border around the image. (sidenote: if you ever receive a card embellished with an image that is hand cut...know this...you must be loved!)

Glued the cat down, and positioned the stars and bird, then popped those up using Dimensionals.

Dipped the top of the silver brad onto the Versamark pad then silver ep, heated it up and ta da! glittery brad for the glittery Primas! Attached the flowers using the dolled up brad. Done!

Stamps: Window Dressing (Hostess)
Paper: Basic Black, Shimmery White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Orchid Opulence, Craft White
Accessories: Dimensionals, Clear EP, silver brad, white pen; Other: star punch, Prima flowers, glitter ep, sapphire ep