Spring Cleaning...

Thanks for all the emails! I'm still alive, just taking it easy after getting back from vacation yesterday! The kids and I are under the weather so I don't know if I will have anything posted this week...I will try! I'm also taking this time to do some "spring-cleaning" and get things organized. I will have some stamp sets up for sell next week...they will be CHEAP...just want to get them out of the house...lol I also have several new things I have never used and will be adding to the pile! Thanks to all of you who support my craft and enjoy my blog:)

Monogrammed Baby Cards...

I'm on a "monogram" kick lately! I love this style because it is clean and elegant and I also wanted a design that I could easily replicate for my stash. It seems everyone around me is "with child" these days...lol The card design is pretty straight forward and starts with PTI white base. I used my SU! polka dot bg in certainly celerly and SU! headline alphabet stamps. The cs is also SU! in certainly celery, pretty in pink, & bashful blue. I used my rectangle nesty dies to matte the monograms and added a cute PTI faux ribbon on the green strip. The sentiment "sweet pea" is from PTI. I got my inspiration from Pottery Barn kids...I just hold on to the magazines and browse thru them for new ideas.

Bella Card Tote...

Need something to put all these pretty Bella cards in?? Well....just scroll down and you can see what I made to hold them:)



TAH DAH!!! I had so much fun making the monogrammed totes that I wanted to play some more! You can scroll down to the previous post for a tutorial. I started with Old Olive base for the tote and used Frances Meyer pp. The Belly band is Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie(stitched) and attached with Joann's vintage brads. The ribbon is attached with sticky tape under the belly band. I used PTI "green thumb" for the sentiment and used my CM oval cutters and Marvy Mega scalloped punch. The cards are pretty much the same colors and stitching. The Bellas are colored with prismacolor pencils, gamsol, and paper stumps. I used my nestibility dies, plain rectangle & scalloped, and added some MM vintage brads. The sentiments are from My Favorite Things.

Monogrammed Tote...

I have to give credit to Leslie Miller for this great tutorial and Joanne Basile for the great sketch colors. I started off with a SU! Chocolate Chip base for the tote. Then I used PTI Spiral Boquet for the focal point. All images are stamped with Dew Drop Chalk inks: sage, jumbo java, iridescent chocolate, & iridescent orchid. The "belly band" is fairly simple to apply as well, however I noticed on 2 occassions, that when bending & scoring the band around the tote, that it tends to crack! Sooo, my solution for this is to only do a single band on front and back...it will not wrap around to prevent the cracking. The monogram is PTI Ambassador monogram edition and the dotted cirlce is also from PTI's Borders and Corner's monogrammed edition. Lastly, I used some Mike's ribbon for the handles, which are attached underneath the band. I was able to fit 4 cards and envies in here nicely without over-filling it. The cards also have a white liner inside since the cardbase is dark. What a cute gift for a special friend:)

Simple Monograms...

I took this past weekend to clean out my drawers and get organized. First, was to pull out all the stuff I've been hoarding and put it to use. I now have a basket on my desk for all pending orders and just toss them in until the order is complete and ready for send off. This has been very helpful for me instead of letting everything pile up! I also set aside a separate basket for projects I have started but not completed, which is a "MUST USE" basket...lol All this lead me to these great patterned cards I found at the Target Dollar Spot a while back. Since the pattern on the cards is nice, simple, and clean, I didn't want to add too much. Monogrammed cards were the perfect solution! I used SU! Whimsical Alpha Lower cased and inked them up with SU! chocolate chip. They are matted on SU! chocolate chip cs and run thru with my Nestibility Circle dies, which leaves a nice "beveled" edge. The ribbon is May Arts(the rigid one) and SU! Chocolate Chip Satin(YUMMY!). These cards are going out in a care package soon:)

ETA: I wrapped the ribbon under the front flap(all the way around). You can trim if you like, but the ribbon may fray too much. I had a comment asking how to get a nice, clean Bella image. First off, on all my Bella's I only use Black Stazon ink. Be sure when stamping your Bella image you are using the right size acrylic block(since these come un-mounted)preferrably a block that is just slightly larger than the stamp size. Stazon on ink is nice and crisp, but also dries quickly so apply the correct amount of pressure...not too much, otherwise it will distort the image. Don't worry, I have gone thru plenty of "trial & error" images before I got the hang of un-mounted stamps:) Any other questions, just ask and I will be sure to help you out:)

More Teacher Bella Notebooks...

Just a quick post today! I love making these easy-to-do notebooks! I figured what goes better with the "teacher" bella, than the schools ACTUAL scrap booking paper right?? Whenever I'm making these, the only color change I make is to the shirt and shoes, so its very adapatable to any color/patterened paper. I colored the bellas with my new prismacolor pencils, gamsol, and paper stumps. The gamsol really helps the colors blend much more smoothly than plain old color pencils and a waterbrush. The upside also...I don't get sticky kiddy fingers reaching on my desk to spill my waterbowl. I don't always clean up after every project so my little one is ALWAYS on the move...lol

12x12 Display Frame...

Here is another fabulous and fun project I got to play with for Glue-Art & Paper Studio. For this particular project I used the 12x12 size, however they are available in 6x6 and 8x8. The stand comes in bare wood so you can get straight to work on them. I can't wait to work with the smaller sizes, which would be prefect for gifts. You can visit Glue-Art & Paper Studio to browse the products they carry and also a list of retailers that carry their products.My lovely hubby and I at my sisters wedding in 2001. This was by far my favorite page to work on because I finally got to use these soft yellow primas that I bought eons ago. The primas are double layered and I added a pearl center. I matted the photo on chocolate brown bazzill cs and sewed around the outer edges. The bazzill olive cs is stamped with flourishes and I added some yellow amuse twinkle stickers for a little bling.


I used mostly SU! supplies to complete this project. Stamp set is Wild Rose and inked in Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme and stamped on kraft cs. I embossed the roses 3 times with UTEE until I got the thickness I wanted. They are layered on the side posts with 3M dimensional tape. I used hodegpodge hardware and printed the "family memories" off the pc. The wooden dowel and bottom rim are dyed with SU! chocolate chip pigment ink and sanded down for a more "vintage" feel. The roses may appear to be a problem when you turn the pages, however, since there is room to play with on top and its quite flexible, I just lifted up the pages at a slight bend and slipped them over the roses...no problem! The page protectors are SU! "Post Bound" which I do like, but because there is still a little space, I may go back and trim the SU! label off and punch holes below the open space so it doesn't hang as low.
I try to keep my pages simple and clean so it doesn't take away from the photo. Most of the photos are take of my girls are closeups because I love their cute chubby cheeks and my camera is great at catching all the wonderful expressions in such crisp detail. The bottom page of Gracie was the first time I've played with ribbon when it comes to scrapping. I'm thrilled with how it helped "box-in" and highlight the page since I only had 2 pics I wanted to display. I took advantage of the SU! special 2 for 1 on ribbon...I've used LOTS of these two colors and I love the quality:)


To see some more great ideas and to meet the New Design Team click HERE!

Bella Notebooks...

These are my spin on Michelle Wooderson's Bella Teacher Notebooks. I just wanted to change a few things based on materials I had available. These are also a great size to give as simple gifts for teachers. I also thought it might be cute if you use the teachers name in place of "take note". These are junior notebooks and can be purchased at any supply store. They were cut in half(a package of 6 were cut at one time) for a $2 fee.
While my sis was here over Christmas break she trekked to Manhattan with me to check out Lee's Art Shop. I was super excited that I could get all the new supplies I was wanting...IN ONE PLACE:) I purchased some gamsol, paper stumps, and a new set of Prismacolor pencils. You can tell the difference in this photo. The pink notebook on the left is done with regular watercolor pencils and a damp paintbrush. Then look at the notebook on the right...POP!! I love the richness of color and its incredibly vibrant. Gamsol and paper stumps are also a definite plus because they don't run like watercoloring with a watered brush.
I used a variety of patterned papers...really trying to use what I have on hand:) The Dewdrops are "Flame" and "Island Blossom" and adhered with crystal effects(a little goes along way). I used "take note" from Papertrey ink.

Cupcake Time...

I had forgotten to post this sample invite with the Princess invites, which are a few posts back. This was the other sample I had made for my gf's little girl. Of course, she chose the Princess, but I thought this was just as cute! It was something different, fun, and spunky. I started with a Certainly Celery base and matted the Pixie Pink on top. The invite is printed out from my pc on PTI white select. This paper is pretty heavy duty and does at times cause a paper jam in the printer...but its worth the result...lol I added some Pretty in Pink snowflakes around the outer edges of the white cs and finished the matting by stitching off-white thread with my sewing machine. The scalloped edging is done with my SU! Corner Rounder(just take off the guard) and the ribbon slits are made with my SU! punch as well. The "cupcake" image is from Mike's dollar bin, colored with CC re-inker and I added some diamond stickles and Liquid Pearls to the frosting. I stamped my Circle in Pretty in Pink and matted it on Pixie Pink cs, which I punch out with my marvy scalloped punch.

I'm having some camera and Adobephoto shop issues so you'll have to bear with me! I'm not a technical junkie, but it is bothersome for me. I have a brand new camera that went kaput on the flash(the day before Christmas!!!!) and we have updated the new photoshop program, which means I have to learn it all over again! I'm going to try my best to get close ups...I miss getting a nice cropped image, but I'm working on that:)

Happy New Year 2008!

Its a very cold start to the New Year in NYC! I'm glad my hubby and I were able to watch the ball drop from the comfort of home:) I think we were more surprised at the fact that we made it up that late...lol We're both very anxious for what the New Year is going to bring!

I finally get to post some pics of a few handmade gifts I did this year. It was killing me to hold out until after Christmas, but I promised myself I wouldn't give anything away this year:) You can click on any of the pics for a larger view.
These are some photo cubes I worked on for a dear friend and my parents(hence the "grandkids" logo). These are really fun to play with and come with a lazy susan on the bottom so they spin on the desk surface. I filled my parents with only 2 photos and will let them choose the others. I have looked all over for these cubes and finally came accross them at Lady Jane Crafts here in Brooklyn. They are made by Nicole Crafts...which A.C. Moore carries, just not this particular item. I checked online, but they are only availble to retailers:( I wish they were more readily available!
I love how simple the "tops" are and they can stash things inside. I did alot of ink distressing on the monkey cube to give it a "jungle" effect. The monkies are all 3-D and used the banana's from another set I had been hoarding. The "grandkids" logos are printed from my PC and cut/dry embossed with my Nestibility dies. I used a ticket corner punch and added brads/bling to the corners
A few altered notebooks for my sisters and best friend! I started with a Staples brand notebook and stamped the SU! polka dot bg right on the rigid front. I then covered about 3/4 with patterned paper. The gals clothes are paper pieced with Basic Grey and glued on. I added some yummy May Arts ribbon and voila!