Made My Own Background Paper (and destroyed a book!)

Hi friends. Today I found a book under my bed that I started, hated, and never finished. I've been wanting to use book pages for new layouts...

Here is my first ever attempt. I ripped a book page out, stamped it with a few different stamps, added the purple lace, stamped the LOVE ribbons on extra book paper, dabbed them with ink, added the bow.

TIP: After stamping tags with black ink, you can quickly "color" them by dabbing them with ink pads. I used ColorBox Pigment Brush Pad.

This was a lot of fun and I still have 300 more pages to work with. :)

PS-- don't read the words too carefully... they are a bit inappropriate! Ooops! :)

I'd like to join the fun in these challenges:

Totally Gorjuss - ribbon and lace
Karen's Doodles - Perfect Purples
Creative Craft Challenges - make your own backing paper
Shopping Our Stash - recycle something (book paper)
The Stamping Boutique - no designer paper
Top Tip Tuesday - T is for... tearing, tags
Stamp With Fun - lilac and cream
Dream Valley Challenges - ribbon
House of Gilli - ribbons and bows
Craft Your Days Away - vintage
Cheerful Stamp Pad - favorite background
The Paper Shelter - anything goes
Anything Goes Challenge - D is for... double tags

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First Card Camp Card - Mixed Sentiments

I need to get my butt in gear for card camp. Here's our first color combo:

It's a little intimidating. I actually forgot to add blue, but I'm going to go back and add blue bling to the middle of the 2 flowers! 

It was my first time trying to use sentiments as the focal point- a really neat idea over at The Spotlight Challenge. I mixed them from 3 sets!

It says, "tweet, tweet     

buzz, buzz     

ROAR!"

:)

The inside squares are shimmery purple and orange- quite reflective and beautiful!

I'd like to enter:

Simon Says Stamp and Show - a word

Dream Valley - ribbon 

Stampin For The Weekend - favorite things (pink!)

Easy Craft Projects - gold

Our Creative Corner - your style

Joyful Stamper - Inspire Me Fridays

Make It Monday - anything goes

CCEE Stampers - pink

Paper Crafting Journey - anything goes

The Shabby Tea Room - favorite things (pink, paper and bow)

Top Tip Tuesday - T is for... tweet tweet!

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Octopus Card in Craft It Forward Competition!

Oh my goodness! One of the cards I made is in the Craft It Forward competition! I made this card for an org that sends cards to sick children in hospitals! Now I can win a $500 donation to that org. PLEASE vote for me? It only takes a click!

And check out the lovely Send A Smile 4 Kids and send some of your cards to hospitalized children!

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Octopus For A Sick Kid!

When I read about Send a Smile 4 Kids, I just knew I had to participate. The week's challenge is to use animals-- an actual challenge for me, as they are not my forte. :)

 Check this embossed blue guy out:

The stamp is from Paper Source and the center of the floss bow is a brad from Recollections.

I'm going to be sending it to Send A Smile and they'll give it to a hospitalized kid who could use the cheering up! :) I encourage you do to the same!

Challenges I'm entering:
*Send A Smile For Kids Challenge - animals
*Card Makin' Mamas - for a child
*Penny Black Saturday Challenges - pesky critters (it counts, right? :)
*Just Some Lines - spotty dotty
*Crazy For Challenges - floss
*Aly's Sunday Sketch - all about kids
*Design Dollies - sketch:

*Forever Friends Challenge - spots and dots
*Tuesday Morning Sketches - sketch:


*Tuesday Throwdown - masculine card

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A Card I Have Pride In!

After my previous card turned out rather blah, I took some quiet time to think about why. I realized it! The previous card used no colors, styles or papers I love. I'm going back to pinks and ribbons and embossing and bling! =D

My college roommate is having a her first baby! It's a girl, so naturally, I have to make a cute card. I find that I work best when inspired, so I was pumped to see this card at the CASE challenge at Fussy & Fancy:




I set out to create an envelope-looking background. It's like a jigsaw trying to get the stripes to go the same way:

 Congrats is over-used, so I went with JOY on a peachy paper:

 I used glittery gold embossing powder:

 I also added purple bottles. Next I hand-stitched a border:

Add a ribbon border, blingy-bling, and crunch the edges of the peach paper. TA-DA:

I love the details and pinks:

I'm also entering these challenges:
*Designed2Delight - pink & orange

*DrunkedStampers - inspiration

*Etsy Inspired Challenge - Home & Weddings
*Just Some Lines - Spotty Dotty
*Secret Crafter Sat. Challenge - Something from around the house
*Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays - Inspiration
*Crafts 4 Eternity - embellishments that start with "R"
*Fairy Knoll - sparkle
*Stamp Something - pretty paper
*CRAFT Challenge - stitches
*Crafty Purple Frog - favorite things (stitching and bling!)
*Sassy Studio Designs - bling it up!
*Bling It On - embossing
*My Mum's Craft Shop - seeing spots
*High Hopes Rubber Stamps - stars or stripes
*Sweet Stamps - embossing
*Paper and Such - inspiration
*Happileigh Scrappin - embossing
*Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - embossing
*Paper Cakes - pick two: gems & ribbon


 Thanks for stopping by! :)

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Congrats With Soaring Balloons

I don't like this card! :) I can't figure out the missing piece. I was shooting for a masculine congrats card with some different heights. 

Balloons! Unknown stamp.

 It's hard to see the contrast that is added by the space between the light paper and the base.

 Stamp by Kolette Hall. Saying: "Life is a great bundle of little things. -Oliver Wendell Holmes" 

Here is the sketch I based it on: 

It's a Lily Pad challenge here.

I also entering these challenges: 

*Crazy 4 Challenges C4C92- string
*Bugaboo Stamps - masculine 

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Coffee Thank You Card

I made this cute coffee themed thank you card for my husband's coworker and his wife. When my husband told them that we tried french press coffee and loved it, they gave us an extra one they had! 

Here's our new press and card! Hooray for fine caffeine!

The bow on the coffee mug really completed the card. :)

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Forgiving Empanadas

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a long time now because I love eggs! I bought a big box of eggs, pie crusts and decided to put onion in instead of bacon.

We woke up on Sunday morning without an alarm clock-- one of the few weeks I don't teach early Sunday School for 2 year-olds.

I wasn't sure what to expect with these empanadas. They are difficult to seal shut but they come out of the oven with a flaky crust and steaming eggs!

Adapted from KitchenAid Best Loved Recipes.

Ingredients:
1 package (15 oz.) refrigerated pie crusts
9 eggs, divided
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of black pepper
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Salsa for serving

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Cut each pie crust in half twice making 8 pieces. Set aside 4 pieces and place 4 on prepared baking sheet.

2. Beat 1 egg and water in a small bowl until blended; set aside. Beat remaining 8 eggs, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until well blended. Heat large skillet over medium heat and cook eggs for 2 minutes without sitiring. Gently stir until eggs form large curds and are still moist. Let cool.

3. Spoon one-fourth of scrambled egg mixture on each pie crust on baking sheet. Sprinkle cheese and onions evenly over eggs.

4. Brush inside edges of each crust with reserved egg-water mixture. Top each with remaining 4 pieces of dough and seal edges with a fork.

5. Brush tops of empandads with remaining egg-water mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Top with salsa as desired.

You can see my fork marks are very poorly spaced, but the cheese covers everything-- these are very forgiving empanadas. They don't have to be beautiful. They puff up quite a bit and end up HUGE. This recipe can easily feed 4 people. Instead of onion, you can fill empanadas with spinach, sausage, tomatoes or bacon.

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#CraftParty With SF Etsy

Last night I attended Etsy's worldwide #craftparty in San Francisco! There were about 150 people there making cards, buttons and felt beads! Here's what I worked on:

It was my first time sewing on cardstock. I found it difficult, so I punched the holes first. Next time I will probably just use my stitcher at home.

My husband and I also handed out Squares at the event:

These are great for crafters to sell their goods. You can accept a credit card payment on any smartphone and the fees are very low-- just 2.75%! Get one mailed to you for FREE at squareup.com.

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Summer Card Camp... here I come!

I'm attending Summer Card Camp 2011! It's all online, plus tons of how-tos and prizes! I'm really excited to get back into this and be creative!

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Getting back into stamping!

A group of girls gathered together for several nights this week to make a scrapbook of our mission trip to China. How on earth had I forgotten how FUN stamping and scraping are? This is my commitment to get back into it!

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