Sarah and the Stampstars! BLOG CANDY

Sarah Moore has one on her blog - go check it out, you might just win some of the cool prizes that will be in the IL SCS Goodie Bags!


http://stampstars.blogspot.com/2007/03/contest-is-here-whoo-hoo.html

The New Mom's Survival Kit

A few years ago I starting making these for all of my friends that were having babies - just a cute basket with some items that will remind them they are important too! The basket includes: lollipops, Hershey kisses, an eraser, a mirror, a clock, a rubber band, marbles, a puzzle piece, life savers and tissues - I included the link in case you want to CASE it:)










www.creatingkeepsakes.com/images/ftp_images/Crafts/momtag.pdf

Masculine Birthday Card

Well its been a long few weeks...working on 80 baby announcements til 2am for 15 days straight and working a full time job is way too much (I will be documenting the baby announcements in the next day or so when I can finally say I am finished which should be TONIGHT) - I have now washed my checkbook in the washing machine and deposited my paycheck without signing the back - I NEED SLEEP and I still haven't finished my 40 swap cards (or the HUGE ILLINOIS SCS SWAP in Arlington Heights - Grace and I will share more on this after this weekend I am sure :), my ATCs or my grab gift (but I am confident all will be completed in time - oh and the 5 other SWAP cards that Grace and I are participating in with Gail...but I did manage to create a few masculine cards this weekend for some bdays (I think this would make a great stamp camp class).

I also participated in our uplines' stamp camp and I will post the last two classes' cards soon. I also have a cute gift for the Mommy to be (survival kit) and will post that soon as well. Too many things not enough time :)

Anyways, on to the Masculine birthday card (sorry its a little dark)...



I used the Canvas background stamp at the top, Simple Shapes and Sincere Salutations for the sentiment. Paper: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and White Cardstock - matching inks and ribbon and the white gel pen for the stitching.

Happy Birthday!!

It’s a Purse, It's a Card, It's a Mini Album!

Hope you had a wonderful and restful weekend. On Saturday, I headed over to a great local scrapbook store called Windy City Scrapbooking (WSC). WSC was celebrating its 3rd birthday. They had some fabulous sales and drawings every half hour to celebrate their 3rd year in business (www.windycityscrapbooking.com). Their crop room was transformed into a make-n-take room.

Here’s a cute purse I created on Saturday. The purse project die is by Luxe Designs and the pattern is called Cashmere Sweater. What a great project. I think I may add some fiber embellishments and photos and make it into a little brag purse. I'm thinking about doing this for our next stamp camp and stamp some "doodles".

Tootles for now! :)

grace

SPRING FEVER!

Spring Fever is contagious!!

Purchase Petals Jumbo Roller, Polka Dots & Paisley set, and Petals and Paisleys Designer paper for $34.95 and get ANY item in the Spring Mini Catalog for 50% off!!

Background Stamps are the Best!

1. With the background stamp face up, ink the stamp completely by tapping the ink pad on the rubber.
2. Place the background stamp face up on your stamping surface.
3. Place the card stock on the inked stamp.
4. If the card stock is smaller than the stamp, cover the card stock with a piece of scratch paper.
5. Rub the card stock with smooth, firm strokes, making sure to rub all areas of the stamp and to keep the card stock from sliding.
6. Remove the scratch paper and carefully lift the card stock off the stamp.

QUICK TIP
Create a multicolored background by applying two or more inks to the background stamp.



Our Marvelous Markers!

Technique A: Multiple Colors

1. Use a marker to apply ink only to the desired parts of the image.
2. Add other colors if desired.
3. Breathe on the inked image to remoisten the ink with your breath before stamping onto paper.

Technique B: Omitting

1. To omit a certain part of a stamp image, use a marker to apply ink only to the desired parts of the image.
2. Breathe on the inked image to remoisten the ink with your breath before stamping onto paper.

QUICK TIP
Use a Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner if you want to perfectly align the overlay image.

I Love to Doodle

Some people consider doodling a nervous habit, but I think it's fun to doodle. I have been doodling for years. Do you ever find yourself bored while sitting at a meeting? -- start doodling it's fun and contagious too.

The new Doodle This and Doodle That stamps in Stampin Ups Spring Mini catalog are fabulous. They can work for many different occasions. Here are some samples I was playing around with today. Both backgrounds were heat embossed with black embossing powder. (make sure you use your embossing buddy for this type of detail work) The sentiments "Congratulations" and "Thank You" were done on the computer with a digital font call TK Doodle by Taran Conyers. It's really easy to load a new font onto your computer and once its there it there. It is available at www.scrapbookgrahics.com for $4.00.

Remember doodling is kind of random with no real set rules. So just start and have fun with it.

Hope you have a Doodlie Day :)

St. Patty's Day in Chicago

No matter your heritage, everyone in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day is full of Irish blood, blarney, and green beer. Chicago's St. Patrick's Day parade is certainly the biggest and liveliest in town, filled with thousands of marchers, colorful floats, marching bands, bagpipers, and glad-handing politicians.

Festivities started with the dyeing of the Chicago River green at 10:45 am, a tradition that started in 1962. Dubbed the "Irish miracle", the dye used actually goes in the river orange, and as some say, gets a leprechaun's help to then turn into its true shade of kelly green. Any of the bridges that cross the river on the north side of the Loop offer a good view -- those at LaSalle, State, or Dearborn are a good bet, with Michigan and Columbus being the best.

These pictures were taken in my backyard at Columbus and Wacker and you can see Trump's building rising in the background.

Spring Cards

These are the three cards we made at our March stamp camp. The theme was "Spring".

The Hoppy Easter card (upper left) was stamped with Bunny, basket, eggs and flowers from the Spring Mini called "Bunny Hugs". Used computer font for "Hoppy Easter", colored pencils for bunny, eggs, basket, flowers and added a cute fluffy tail on the bunny with a small white puff. Stamped small chicks on the outsie of the envlope (not shown).

The second card (upper right)is a spinner card . The base card is torquoise blue and uses Polka Dots and Petals from the Spring Mini Catalog .

This green "Spring" card was super simple. Big Blossoms from the Spring Mini and Heidi Grace paper with rik rak. All the pieces were chalked on the ends. Used computer font for "Spring" and then oval punched and adhered to the card. this was a great beginners card and introduced chalking technique.

Check out the Spring Mini

Gearing up for Spring & Summer classes!

Grace and I have been asked back to Latin School and artSCAPE - Come join us!!

Here are the details...

We are teaching at artScape http://www.artscapechicago.org/

Card Making
Learn how to make gorgeous one-of-a-kind handcrafted cards. This class will focus on beginning paper crafting techniques and rubberstamping.

Artists: Grace Moore and Elizabeth Johnston

Course Fee: $39

Wednesday, May 2nd & May 9th
6:30-8:30
66 E. Randolph
Room 503

REGISTRATION IS OPEN


Latin School will be Tuesday, July 17th & July 24th 6-9pm. Registration will open up in May - we will keep you posted.

Catch the Fever!

Spring Fever Promotion

March only, receive 50% OFF any one item from the new Stampin'Up! Spring Mini Catalog!


Here's how:

Purchase the Polka Dots & Paisley Bundle (item # 109145, $34.85) and receive 50% OFF any one item of your choice from the Spring Mini Catalog.

The Polka Dots & Paisley Bundle includes:

• Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set
• Petals Jumbo wheel
• Petals & Paisley Designer Series Paper

What better way to bring in spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Did you know..

• In the United States, it's customary to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. But in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky, says Bridget Haggerty, author of The Traditional Irish Wedding and the Irish Culture and Customs Web site.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 34 million United States residents claim Irish ancestry, or nearly ten times the entire population of Ireland today, which stands at 3.9 million. Among U.S. ethnic groups, the number of Irish-Americans in the U.S. is second only to the number of German-Americans. That would be me :)

• Chicago is famous for dyeing the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day. The tradition began in 1962, when a pipe fitters union—with the permission of the mayor—poured a hundred pounds (45 kilograms) of green vegetable dye into the river. (On the job, the workers often use colored dyes to track illegal sewage dumping.) Today only 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of dye are used, enough to turn the river green for several hours. According to the Friends of the Chicago River, a local environmental group, more people are likely to view the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day than on any other day.

Auction Project with a Great Class

This week I had the pleasure of working on an auction project with a 5th grade class at Alcott School. They are such a great group of kids and their art work is quite impressive. They decorated three mirrors with "Hear No Evil", "See No Evil" and "Speak No Evil" monkeys. They did an awesome job and I wanted to share their projects with you. Thanks Ms. V. for sharing your class with me. Take a moment to check out their cool mirrors. I am definitely going to bid on this at the auction!

They inspired me to make a set of my own mirrors which I will post on Monday. Have a Great Weekend.

Cool Sentiment

I found my notes from our Disney Vacation. Yes, I take notes so that when I scrapbook I can use them to bring thoughts, feelings and sentiments to the pages. It's not quite like a diary, but there are many items I do quickly jot down for my future reference. Here is one that I jotted down when we were at the Harambi Wildlife Reserve in Animal Kingdom

"What you see with your eyes. . .

You should treasure with your heart"

This sentiment is true not only of nature but of art. So the next time someone gives you something that is handmade, consider the time and effort involved in making the item and treasure it with your heart.

Spring is in the Air!

Friday was a beautiful day in Chicago. You could feel Spring is on it's way and stamp camp was alot fun. It was great to see many of our friends from previous card classes and we even had 2 new guests too. Our theme for this camp was "Think Spring". We made two spring cards and one Easter card. I am always amazed how many people immediately mail there cards, I think I will start selling postage stamps :) LOL
I don't know how about you, but many of the cards I make I save. I really need to send more so that others' can enjoy them.

Hope you enjoy these cards. Have a great week.