Cards for the Troops

A photo sent from Debbi (without an "e") along with some thank you notes from the Marines who have received handmade cards. Debbi (who coordinates getting the cards to the troops) hopes to be able ship off 1,000 blank cards by the end of October so the troops have holiday cards to mail back home. In almost all the thank you note, they say how much they appreciate the cards and to know that people back home haven't forgotten about them. Debbi needs to receive the holiday cards by 10/31. My goal is to make 250 cards and if you would like to help or donate cards here is the link to Debbi's blog with more information http://dddzstmpn.blogspot.com/

CAS (Clean and Simple) Card

The mouse image was a stamp I got at one of the stamp flea markets for only .50! I usually don't buy old stamps since I can't use them for classes but when you can get them for a bargain, how can you pass them up? I in a "clean and simple" (CAS) mode right now. I just can't get worked up on doing cards that take hours to make or so thick you need extra postage. Maybe I should break out the watercolors and alcohol inks to make some background paper to help me get in a more creative mood.

I'm back on my marathon hiking schedule now that the weather has turned cool. I like being at the top of the trail when there is a nice cool breeze. I'm covered from head to toe to protect myself from the sun so the colder the better in my world.

Witch's Hat

One of the projects we did at Creative Escape was to make a pyramid box. It wasn't a project that was easy to pack or ship home. My sample had to come home in pieces but I knew that I would take that design and make it into a witch's hat. Finding a way to keep the box closed and still keep it witchy looking was the challenge. I made a hat band at the bottom instead of a little band at the top like we did in class. What's great about this project is that you can make it any size you want.

It would be a cute to put a Halloween cupcake inside or some gummy candy body parts. :)

Red Shoes

Every year I buy a pair of red sandals for the following summer and I wear them all summer. I'm getting a little concerned now since I still haven't been able to find a pair for next year. This month I've been in a creative funk so instead of working out in my studio, I went out for some retail therapy. Along with looking for a pair of red sandals, I'm also looking for a new purse. I saw a really nice purse at the Rack which was on sale for $1,000 marked down from $3,000. Now I really liked the purse but I could understand why a purse costing $3,000 at one point would not have those little corner feet things on the bottom of it. The metal things that protect the bottom of the purse when you put it down. I guess when it costs 3k, you don't every put it down. Didn't find any shoes or a purse but I did get some Christmas shopping done. Still in creative funk so maybe I will have to go eat a whole chocolate cake.

No photo please kitten

This is how Honey Bunny feels about having her picture taken. When she hears the camera lens open, she will start to jump at it. Taking a photo that isn't blurry has been a challenge. She still is in her "let's chew everything, including Purrcy" stage. She's able to go outside now, so at least Purrcy can get some quality nap time for part of the day.

Stolen Recipes

I went into the store today to pick up my Halloween Goodies recipe book so I could start prepping for my class on Sunday. Well someone had ripped out the recipes and some of the photos. Really, why would someone do that? The store let's people take photos or drawings of all the class projects and I don't mind when people ask questions about what I used. I used super strong tape to hold the recipes so the person who stole them had to rip apart my pages. The recipes are easy enough to find online, so why rip it apart?

Halloween Pumpkin Card

I totally CASE this card from Leslie Springer who posted her card on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

SCS is a great website for card making ideas. What I liked about this card is that I could use up some of my paper stash and I already had the stamp. The stardust pen highlights don't show up well in the photo but it adds a nice touch. It's a super quick card to make too!

Owl in a tree

This owl stamp is a really old one, maybe 20 plus years. I should be working on coming up with some new classes but I've been in a creative slump. I decided to use up some of my HUGE stash of paper. The Cornflakes (my card making group) will be meeting tomorrow, so maybe this will be the card I make for them.
I used my Copic airbrush system and masked off the moon.

Rendering Beeswax

Dear hubby had several small pans filled with beeswax in various stages. I finally got tired of tripping over them out in the garden so I did the first rendering of the wax this morning. It's a slow and messy project of melting, straining, melting and straining again. I did manage to get the beeswax melted down into two small containers and I hope to finish off all off this afternoon. I'm surprised there isn't more beeswax compared to the amount of honey we've harvested. I'm not doing the rendering according to the textbooks but with what I have around the kitchen, which is another messy story. If I get into making candles, then I may invest the official equipment.

Rubber Stamp Flea Market

This month has been a whirlwind of rubber stamp heaven! Two big flea market type of events happened within one week of each. If you're still looking for some great stamp deals, check out Cranberry Hill's back room. The stamps will be on sale until the end of the month. I saw today that some of the vendors were marking everything down so they wouldn't have to pack them up and take back home.
The store's blue tagged stamps are 75% off which is something to get excited about too. The next rubber stamp flea market will be in January 2010.

What you learn at the Bee Guild BBQ

Things you learn when at a Bee Guild BBQ. 1) How to make Martha Stewart's beehive honey cake. 2) Eat bee and beehive sugar cookies 3) Who is raising Queen Bees and how that should help with the inbreeding from commercial queen bees 3) Guild member who developed his own heirloom tomato that is now for sale to general public 4) What apitherapy means and who is using it for his sore knees 5)When the next meeting for the Fungus Federation will be meeting 6) How to keep raccoons and squirrels out of you garden 7) A car back firing started some of the fires we had in our local hills
As you can see the guild members have a wide variety of interests and there is never a dull moment.
Here's the link to Big Martha's Honey Cake
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/honey-glazed-beehive-cake

Witch's Hat

I made this super quick (but slow drying) card from one of the stamps I got at the Cranberry Hill flea market last week. The stamp was only 10 cents! I cut out the hat and pop dotted it up then covered it with a thick layer of black Sticklers. Before it dried, I added a small piece of mizuhiki cord for the brim. If you don't count the drying time, the card took less than 5 minutes to make.

I got published - sort of

I had forgotten that the fundraiser stamps I had made for Bernie Berlin's A Place to Bark and Meow would be in this issue of Crafts 'n things. I was in Michael's today to kill some time before a training meeting at Scrapbook Island (getting ready for the big flea market sale on Saturday) checking out all the magazines and books. I happened to picked up this magazine and as I flipped through it, I saw a photo I took of the stamps. I had used some really bright background paper so it caught my eye right away. I hope this latest PR will help spur on the sale of the stamps Claudine, Lydia and Suzi designed.

http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesrus.com/

Scrapbook Island's Flea Market

I was able to take a photo (before the lights were turned off) of what will be at the flea market Scrapbook Island will be hosting this weekend. There is tons of 12x12 paper, albums, storage containers and totes of all kinds. Lots of Quickutz and Sizzix dies , some still new in the box. It's best to get there early, since the good deals will go fast. Some people priced their items to sell and others priced a little too high. The rubber stamps are piled up on a table or in boxes under the tables, so you will have to dig. It's best to be able to shop with two hands and bring your own shopping bag. There is no room for strollers or bored husbands so plan to leave them home. They will limit the number of people in the room at one time (I think 50 at a time) during the morning rush so everyone will be able to see what's on the tables or in the boxes on the floor.

Leaving for another deployment duty

My son left today for his sixth deployment to the Middle East. He's an air flight crewman and he goes where his plane is needed, so I never know for sure where he is. I think this time he will spend more time on the ground, which makes me a little more nervous than when he is flying. I do know that it will be super hot so some thought has to go into the care packages I send out.
He came home over Labor Day and spent weekend hanging out with friends and family.

Halloween Card Class II - Close Up

This is a close up of a card I will be doing for my Halloween II card class. It's a fast card to make using the Copic airbrush system and some simple masking of the Memory Box stamp. I left off stamping a sentiment so you could add whatever you wanted.

Halloween Card Class II

Finally got my samples done for my Halloween Card Class II that I will be doing at Cranberry Hill on Saturday October 3. It's another simple and quick card class.

From My Garden - cantaloupe

I grew up when fresh produce was locally grown and it was always vine ripe. We ate what was in season and if it couldn't be grown in California, we didn't eat it. There aren't too many things that won't grow in our area so it wasn't hard. Fast forward to today and most people haven't ever eaten a vine ripe anything and sadly have no idea what they are missing. Last year, the cantaloupes from my local produce shop were terrible. We only got one throughout the whole summer that was good. So my compost bin was full of cantaloupe seeds. This year I had some volunteers start up so I let them grow. I didn't think they would bear fruit since I didn't think commercial growers used heirloom seeds. Well, they set fruit and last night for dessert we had our first pick of vine ripe cantaloupe and it was great! We have about a dozen more in various stages so we should be all set for the next two months. One of the joys of having your own garden and living in California.

Honey Bunny in Pause Mode

Here is proof that Honey Bunny isn't always in fast forward mode. This is one of the rare times she is not jumping, biting or knocking something off our desks. She is in front of my hubby's computer screen, one of her favorite places to take a cat nap. Purrcy must have been outside otherwise she would have been beating him up.

Use up your scrap pile card

One of the cards I did for my free class at the Japanese Senior Center today. I like to use up my scrap, so this card worked out great. It did take me awhile to figure out how to tie the knot since all the directions are for right handed people but once I figured it out things went really fast.

Used Rubber Stamp Sale

This is an enabler alert. If you don't want to know about an upcoming used rubber stamp sale then click away from this post.

I just scoped out all the good stuff coming into Cranberry Hill for their rubber stamp/scrapbooking supplies flea market this Saturday starting at 10:00 am. Over 80 people have signed up to haul in all their unwanted items to sell. I saw some really good bargains - Stampin' Up sets for $4.00, PSX stamps, back issues of card magazines $1.50, Cuttlebug folders, stamps as low as .25 and tons more. I would get there early and carry the biggest shopping basket you can find. And please, don't even think about bringing the little ones or strollers, the place will be packed for the first part of the sale. I was told the sale will run through the end of the month, but to get the "good" stuff cheap, you need to be there on Saturday.

Halloween Goodies Cook Book

I finally finished my sample for my Halloween Goodies Cook Book class. It was a little harder to design since Halloween recipes (from Foodnet.com) have a lot ingredients! I went with rings instead of using the Zutter machine, so people could add some of their own recipes and it can stand up right on the counter. I'm still confirming the dates for this class at Cranberry Hill.

Caught on film

Ok I finally was able to get some photos of how good Mr. Purrcy is being about the consent attacks from Honey Bunny, the 3 pound terror machine. As you can see, she is getting to pounce on Purrcy as he is trying to take a much needed cat nap.

Quick Halloween Cards

Photo of my upcoming quick Halloween card class I will be doing at Memories Live On in Cupertino. They asked if I could do a class of very simple and fast cards. Of course how could I say no, when Halloween is my favorite card making season. I have a few more Halloween class projects in the works and hope to get them done by the end of the week.

The one that got away

Saturday was auction day and I also teaching a class. I normally don't have my cell phone on when I'm teaching (unless my son is on deployment, then I keep it with me all the time) but this cool cabinet showed up at the auction house and well, I just had to bid on it. I did a phone bid (they call you when it comes up on the auction block) and of course I got the call right at the start of my class. It was one of those hectic moments! I wasn't the high bidder, but I thought I would still show you some of the neat things you can find at the auction houses.
This is an early 20th century sideboard. Beside the unique paint finish (it was at one time painted or stained red and I'm guessing the painted started to peel so it was lightly sanded down) the front doors flip up and slide into cabinet. This is all dovetail work and the groves were hand craved out. The top panels of the sideboard also slide out to reveal a shallow drawer underneath. I sure would have loved to drag this prize home. It sold for $275.00.

Spirelli Halloween Card

This is a close up shot of one of the cards I did for my Quick Halloween card class this weekend. I've been wanting to use Spirelli (string art) in one of my class for a long time. I finally got to use it as a background.
I also like to used A Muse stamps in an "un-cutesy" way. Really, did you ever think of using the Sprielli technique with an A Muse stamp?

Quick Stampendous Halloween Card

I had to make a quick Halloween card ( I had less then 15 minutes before the start of my next class) with just the supplies I had with me when I was at the store on Saturday. Halloween is one of my favorite card making holidays and maybe this year I will actually remember to get them mailed out in time. :)
Stampendous stamp, 3" circle punch, ribbon, Copic air brush (the store had one step up) and tons of ink distressing on all the edges.

More from Creative Escape

This is what 68 pounds of crafting supplies look like. We do so many projects at Creative Escape, most people have to ship things home. If you did any shopping at all the stores in the area, well you end up with a box that looks like this. Bazill (the paper company) had a shipping station set up at the convention center and shipped things out at their UPS rate. It was a nice perk to the event.
Slinky or aka Honey Bunny had to check out the box as soon as I got it down the hallway. She turned into a snake as soon as I opened the box and slid down inside. Since she still teething, I had to tape it back up until I have time to unpack it. Only about ten pounds of crafting supplies belong to me, the rest belongs to a friend who couldn't have it shipped to her house since she didn't want you hubby to see it all.

Candy Corn Card

I've been prepping for my classes this weekend all day. It's taking a lot longer since I have to stop every five minutes to stop Honey Bunny (all 3 pounds of her) from beating on Mr. Purrcy. Honey Bunny now knows that Purrcy won't do anything to hurt her, so she loves to get him in the head lock and kick the stuffing out of him. If she's not beating on him, she's jumping on to every flat surface looking for something to chew on or knock over. I thinks we should have named her "slinky" because when I go to grab her she can back flip out of my reach or go so limp you can't get a good hold. She still likes to take a shower every morning and I think that is the only time she's not in fast forward mode.
The candy corn card is one of the cards I will be doing in my class on Saturday. Have you every beaded with a kitten in the house? I finally had to lock Honey Bunny out of the studio so I could get them done and give Purrcy a break.