1000 hits?! Wow!

Well, ladies (I am assuming it is mostly us women and hope I am not offending any fellas out there), I can't believe I have almost reached 1000 hits on my blog! Wow, I am astonished, elated . . . I can't think of another word! (I know that is hard to believe, right?!) Well, I didn't think I would hit 1000 quite so soon, and I am so excited that you all care to stop by and comment or just say hi. Since I work from home, I don't get much contact with the outside world like I used to, and I have met some pretty terrific people from SCS--that I would gladly work with every day! :) You gals are awesome! Some of my friends and family that I grew up with stop by too, and you all KNOW you are awesome, and I love ya!

Anyway . . . to let you all know how much I care and to tell you thank you for being here the past few months with me, I have a small collection of goodies for some blog candy. (see pic above) All you have to do for a chance to win it is comment on my blog about what you would like to see more of, if you like mostly stamping, scrapping, or altered images, or if you like a little personal chit-chat in between. I don't usually tell much along the lines of personal stuff, but I think my personality shows through a little with my silly comments in between. Your comments will help me become better at this, and at the same time I will be giving you things that interest you and keep you coming back for more.

I will be drawing a random comment by using the random number generator (found on line) early Saturday morning, so that should leave plenty of time to comment in case you are busy this week especially with Halloween and all. Lets think of it as a post-Halloween goodie!

What's in the package you say? There are Inkadinkado clear birthday stamps, 2 blank puzzles for altering, some Chipboard ribbon sliders, Sandylion butterfly 3-D stickers, some pretty pink primas with silver brads, and a retired Penny Black stamp called Bubble Mouse (purchased at http://www.hmstamps.com/)

So . . . comment away, and good luck on winning some BLOG CANDY!!

Halloween peek-a-boo boxes

Well, it has been a busy weekend already. My little neighborhood had a small get together today for the children. They go trick-or-treating at our homes up here on the hill, and then we get together at the pond where the lights are strung and the candles are glowing. We usually enjoy hot cocoa, roast marshmallows, and while the children play hide 'n seek and munch us parents chat. It is really fun, and it is just a really small community marshmallow roast :)


So today, after I finished working, I finished up my Frankenstein and pumpkin peek-a-boo boxes. The Frankie one is totally CASED from papermoon04 at SCS, but the pumpkin one I came up with on my own. It is made from small ovals--similar to some of the cards I have seen on SCS, and I have been wanting to try. I think these punched pumpkins look so real and very elegant too, but I figured some of the little girls may not want a Frankenstein, so . . .



Here they are . . .

**Note: I noticed keeping the pictures small--gives you the option of clicking to enlarge them. Medium size you are stuck with what you see.**

Template can be found here from Qbee. She was very kind to print these up for us.

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Also of note--I see the blog is getting really close to 1000 hits!! Woohoo! I surely did not think I would see that any time soon, as I thought only a few of my good friends were dedicated to checking out my little creations. :) Well, I want to thank you all for looking and commenting, so stay tuned. I will get a picture of some goodies posted on here, and after it reaches 1000 hits, we will have some BLOG CANDY (maybe just in time for Halloween--less calories and much more fun).

Tutorial on Glitter Window Technique

*Note: In this tutorial you will end up with ATC sized samples. Also, the colors in the photographs are not necessarily the colors in the final project, as this was tried on a couple of different "phototypes."

FIRST STEP: You cut your 8 1/2 x 11-inch card stock (cs) with the short side up at 2 1/2 and 5 inches (I use a guillotine-type cutter made by Boston). I have had it forever. So I actually push the paper through to 6 inches and cut, then 3 1/2 inches and cut again. This gives you 3 strips (one 3 1/2 inches wide and two at 2 1/2 inches wide). You want to cut these all down so they are 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches for ATC size. This way is the best to get 10 pieces from one piece of 8 1/2 x 11 cs. (You will actually need 3 sets of these ATC pieces. I used ruby red for my front piece, a white one for the stamped image, and More Mustard for my back piece to cover it all up and give it more stability. The white one can actually be a little bit smaller since it is fitted between the other two pieces).

SECOND STEP: I stamped my pumpkin image on the white cs pieces. You can take the time to color them now if you would like. If not, you will need to do this before you attach the front and back for sure. Don't color it lightly, as it will not show if it is too light. Lay the coluzzle template on top of the stamped image to decide which circle you need to cut so it can be seen through the front piece.

THIRD STEP: Then I used my coluzzle (once I had decided what size) to cut the circle on the ruby red piece for the front.

*Note: You could also use the nestabilities dies if you have those. Just be sure to choose one large enough to fit the stamped image you are using (in my case the pumpkin), but be sure your tape is wide enough to cover the hole too.

FOURTH STEP: Place your ruby red cs in the embossing folder and run through your machine (i.e. Coluzzle, Sizzix, Wizard, etc.). You can also decorate the front piece however you would like now or wait until you are all done. I then placed my stamped image behind the cut out hole again, sized it up, trimmed it if needed, and taped it down to the back piece of cs. This step is to keep your image centered in the hole (ya know kinda like the carpenters say measure twice, cut once--if this is off it will be too late once you have it all together.

*You may want to use the embossing buddy to keep the static down on your front piece prior to taping and dusting with glitter.

FIFTH STEP: Place the packing tape on the back of the front piece with the sticky side out. Make sure it is tight across the hole so that you get a good window to see your image through.

SIXTH STEP: Then sprinkle with Dazzling Diamonds (DD). Tap off extras onto paper and funnel back into the dd container.

LAST STEP: Use mounting tape or double sticky

tape to adhere the front and back pieces.

Your final project will look similar to this depending on the color choices and the embellishments you used.

Hope this tutorial was helpful to you.

Couple Christmas cards and a Beate's sketch challenge

I made this quick card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #24. This was the first time I have participated in her WSCs, and I wish had done so before. They are a lot of fun. I will definitely be checking back next weekend for a new one. I am wishing now that I had made another layer under the dp, but I think it still works. I went with the circle instead of a rectangle to give it more room for the Merry Christmas sentiments to show through, and I just love these scalloped circles from my SCS sisters. I have so many saved that I do not remember who they are all from (as they are now in an envelope all by themselves). This one is black, so I added some white gel pen dots to accent it a bit. The image was previously colored for mass producing my Christmas cards, and I had used wc pencils and blender pens on this one. The dp is from a stack made by DCWV (if I have the initials in the right spot), and the ribbon is white with silver edges. I used the swirls from the Frosty set as a bg stamp on the old olive paper (seem to have oodles of this, so I am using it for my Christmas cards).

So . . . let me know what you think! Oh, yeah, and here is one more . . .

I made this card for the Christmas Card Challenge and to get some more practice with my prismas. I love the gamsol technique, but I find it more difficult than the wc pencils and blender pens. I think the colors look nice, but I still need practice.
I used the sakura pen to add sparkle to her wings (not sure you can see that in the picture), and Silver Encore on the sentiment. The black piece behind the angel image was made with a cb snowflake folder, and the dp is from a DCWV pack for Christmas with a huge poinsettia on it. The sentiment was layered on true thyme to add some green, and then held on with gold brads. Overall fairly simple and more could be added, but I stopped there.

Can you help Marla?

Stamp angels please consider this RAK!
There is a really sweet gal Marla, (A little bit of everything) in Ontario, Canada that lost her home and everything in it! Thank God she and her family survived the devastating home fire and are okay!
Needless to say Marla will need to start an entire new . . .

See full post at http://stampinonthemountain.blogspot.com/

Thanks in advance, ladies!! :)

Cute mice . . .

Even if you are not very fond of mice, I am sure you will still love House Mouse stamps. These are the cutest mice I have ever seen (well, okay, besides Mickey and Minney). These little guys and gals get into all sorts of things, and you can check them out at the best prices on the Internet-- http://www.hmstamps.com/ Tell Dick I sent ya :)



I made this cute pretty in pink and close to cocoa card last night for a really good friend of mine (she is more like an adopted mother really). I am not sure she likes mice, but I think this little girl (Hooray stamp--Monica) looks like she is yelling "Hooray, it is your special day!!" She is so tickled to celebrate with us . . . how can we not love her?

This was also my first tent card, but I think I am hooked. My card stock measured 5 1/2 inches x 7 1/2 inches. Then I lined it up so that it was not more than 4 1/4 tall. It probably would have worked better the other way that way it would have been taller instead of longer, but I still think it worked well.

I thought the scalloped circle looked like lace, so I added the finishing touches with paper piercing and faux stitches. There are also 3 pink brads at the bottom of the dp paper, but they blend in a bit--little harder to see.



Stamps: Hooray, and friend stamp from Noteworthy

CS: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, patterned paper (not sure the name but it is from my good friend Chris/Catt871) and white

Ink: Close to Cocoa and matching marker, white gel pen

Should I keep it?!

Well, I promised my SIL that I would make her a card for her boss for Boss' Day (16th in case you are worrying and don't have your own card made yet *wink*). Now that I have it made, I love it so much, I am not sure I want to give it up!! LOL







Stamps used: All SU sets--Noble Deer, Rough Edges Alphabet, "Happy and day from Frosty, and Classic alphabet for the Boss' part inside.



Inks: Close to Cocoa and Versamark



Punches: Rounded tab, small oval, and large oval.



Others: Paper piercing tool, hodge podge hardware, and ribbon.



If you have seen my work before, you already know this, but . . . I just love to ink distress the edges to give it more depth and a softer feel. I think it gives it a sort of vintage/old world charm too. Anyway . . . I used the 3 deer image, layered on the black to make it stand out, used some tan/mustard colored DP for the "hey" tag and layered a strip of it on the true thyme and black. The card base is also true thyme, although it looks lighter in the photo due to too much light, I guess. I trimmed the front of the card a little short so I could stamp the trees at the bottom and make them stand out more. These would probably have looked great with EP on them too, alas I did not think of that prior to stamping or I would have used my versamark with the close to cocoa classic ink I chose for the image. the corners seemed to need something, so I added the piercing.



The inside needed to match the "hey," so I added a little rhyme-like verse Happy Boss' Day! with the Boss part on a small oval and then layered with a black large oval behind. I also stamped the pine cone branch in versamark around the sentiment, but it does not show up in my picture very well.



Well, I hope Crystal and her boss like the card. I enjoyed making it, and HEY it's a guy card. I have a tough time with them, but I am really pleased this turned out well. I guess I better give it to her, since both of my bosses are females anyway . . . besides, I can always make another like it for a masculine B-day card. :)

Taking a Chance . . .

I just had to let everyone know that I "took a chance" and put 2 sets of these Poinsettia cards (below in last post) on Ebay. They will be up for bid until Saturday morning. If you would like a set or would just like to see how I fair, you can check it out there. So far I started them at $1 each for a set of 3 (so $3), and I have seen a lot of different ones go pretty high. Overall, I think people like to look and not buy . . . but I thought I would take a chance. :)

I recently received this from a good friend who has had cancer and is now in remission. I felt it was appropriate for the month of October and "going pink."

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors /advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know. http://w ww.thebreastcancersite.com/