Washi Wednesday!

I kinda like the sound of that! 

AND I got crafty with my washi tape. I used my birthday money and got a typewriter. I gotta tell  you. I am a lazy scrapper. Getting out of my room, going to printer, lining up journaling, the printing, cutting..etc...BLEH! 

So I decided to invest in a typewriter that I just pull out, plug in and type my journaling right then and there and I loooove it. I find myself journaling MORE! So that is what I focused on with this layout. 

So first, I played with the washi design on a piece of white cardstock making sure it was lined up where my photo was going to be and then just typed away.  

All cardstock is Core'dinations Cardstock, Washi is a mix of some I found on ebay, Queen & Co. and My Mind's Eye. Letters are Heidi Swapp. I cut the tag from my Silhouette with some Kraft Core and used a Cocao Daisy stamp on it...love this wine stamp I got from there...I use it a lot :)

{click on images to make them larger}

Twine is from May Arts...

Father's Day cards

Happy Saturday!  It feels so good to be back to creating these days. I even made some FATHER'S DAY cards! I never am on time with this kind of thing so I am pretty stoked, LOL!

They were up on the Core Blog this week to so check them out HERE.

 I was inspired this week by two different things.

First up, I was working with some Couture Creations dies and after my cut I realized unfortunately that my sandwich was wrong. So it didn't cut all the way through. That happens to me from time to time and I just put them in my recycle bin. WEll not this this time! I thought...I can do something with that...and I did! You have to check out their Doily dies..they are AWESOME! And versatile....

There was no way I could cut this with craft knife because it was too detailed so I grabbed my Sand it Gadget and I sanded and sanded and sanded a bit more and the "etched" image created starts to pop off the card.  It's subtle but I think it works AND I saved some scraps ;)

I hope you can see that...in person it looks really cool. Subtle ...it looks almost like patterned paper. Just added some May Arts burlap string.

And next up I was in my inbox and the daily RSS feed from Scrapbook & Cards Today was there and I found this treat: Folded Shirt Card for Father's Day!

Aly Dosdal from the WRMK Design Team originally did the video so I had to try it out because I just KNEW that Core w0uld be awesome with this tutorial. I used Core Essentials for the shirt, Chocolate Box for the tie and background and a David Tutera Celebrate card for the base. I cannot get enough of these square cards!   For the original video check out the WRMK blog .

I gotta tell you...I did it on the FIRST try so it wasn't that hard. You will need your Scor-Pal or scoring tool of some sort.

And  here is the inside of the card. You can open it up and put something in there.

May Arts ... Core'dinations...AND Stampendous...AGAIN!

We are at it again!!!

Here is the line up today:
Core:
Clare Buswell: http://clare-buswell.blogspot.com
Ellen Sosnoski: http:closeyourears.blogspot.com
Ava Gavloski: http://cottagerca.blogspot.ca


May Arts:
Gini Williams Cagle http://www.ginicagle.blogspot.com/
Jen Shears http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Jenifer Cowles http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/

Stampendous: Cyndi Bundy
http://www.scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com/

Krissy Fossmeyer:  http://www.paperinkspirations.blogspot.com/
Lea Kimmel:  http://ink-positive.blogspot.com/
Asia King:  http://underacreativespell.blogspot.co.uk/

Now on to my projects....

Remember this stamp?  Yep...using it again. It is so versatile. 

Our new smooth tags are awesome to stamp on. I cannot get enough of any of our tags! So check them out and make sure you ask your retailer to get some for you.

For these tags I used a variety of May Arts ribbon and some Burlap String (loooooove this stuff!). Then the sentiment is from David Tutera Celebrate Step 3...the white and black sentiment stickers.  I love that the ribbon comes in sooooo many different colors that you can match inks perfectly.

You can never have too many gift tags on hand, can you?

So make sure you hop all week long. Core AND May Arts AND Stampendous are giving awayy HUGE prizes AND Core has picked a super secret DT member's blog for another random giveaway!
Check out the Core blog for deets and hints on that. 

May Arts, Stampendous, AND Core'dinations...PaRtY!!!!

Howdy! We are hopping ALL WEEK long with May Arts and Stampendous. 

How much fun is that?????

All of these companies are giving away goodies on their blogs AND Core has a secret DT member blog they have picked out to choose a random winner, too!  There are some Core Tags, May Arts ribbon AND Stampendous stamps up for grags ALL WEEK LOOOOOOOOOOOONG! 

It feels so so so good to be crafting again!

`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the order for today:

Core'dinations:

Ava Gavloski:  http://cottagerca.blogspot.ca

Ellen Sosnoski:    http://closeyourears.blogspot.com  (that is me)

Suzanna Lee :  http://www.lifestrivialities.typepad.com

May Arts:
Charlene Driggs http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/
Christina Colón http://www.thetwistedmuse.com/
DeeDee Catron http://umwowstudio.blogspot.com/

Stampendous
Kristine Reynolds:  http://stampingandscrapingincalifornia.blogspot.com/

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I created a Bridal Shower card for today for my cousin. For the base I uses a David Tutera Celebrate Cardmaking system card base in smooth kraft. I looooove making square cards!  Thanks to Andrea who got me hooked on this ;)

I stamped right on the Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Shattered cardstock with the large rose bloom cling stamp from Stampendous and then heat embossed with some Stamendous glitter embossing powder. After cutting it out, I adhered it with some Tombow 3D power tabs and then finished off with a David Tutera Celebrate Cardmaking system pearl tag, sticker and string. 

I layered the cut out rose over some wired burlap string. I know it is hard to see but this string has white and pink stitching  on it...gorgeous! Remember you can click on the images to make them larger.

Here is an image of this stamp I just LOVE and use 24/7:

And the string:

Getting back on the horse...thanks to a friend :)

So a friend whom I have grown to love and admire posted the sweetest thing on my FB page the other day about missing my blog. I never knew people really read it and to be honest...that might have been the nicest compliment I have received in a long, long time. I know..a bit cheestastic but it feels good to know it.

xoxoxo Mel :)  

Thank you for brining me back to something I love and missed. Do I scrap as much?  No...but I still do a little and you know I got somethin' to say! LOL!

So wanna see something I made?  I did this layout a little bit ago for Core using our Core Cuts line and it makes me all sortys of happy. We love going to the St Patty's day parade around here and I jsut wanted to play with some colors. FUN and BRIGHT colors like the Core cuts collection pack has. And, of course, Owen brightens my day, too. ;) 

So I am all sorts of happy today. Feeling like I found a piece of me that might have been missing and it is my creative outlet. I need to scrap more. I need to give myself time to be creative and share it like I used to. 

It makes me a better person...captures memories for my family and, most importantly, it may help get some of these unused papers out of my studio! 

{click on images to make the  larger}

That's a bit of our Core Couture sparkly goodness and the shamrock shapes are Lifestyle Crafts dies.

Thanks so much for the push, Mel! I will be back next week I promise!  

We are hopping with May Arts and Stampendous so it's gonna be fun and I have TWO projects for next week. Holla!

Core & Hampton Art

Hi! Happy Tuesday!

I hope you are  having fun with Hampton Art & Core this week! Today I have a gift bag set for you using Core'dinations David Tutera Celebrate cardmaking system and Hampton Art stamps.

Did you know that the Step 2 layers fit perfectly on craft bags?!  How cool is that and I picked these up at  my local craft store and the A7 Large Dot embossed layer fit great. Don't forget to sand ;)

I used a bookmark tag from Step 3 for this cutie little owl. He is so sweet! You can never have too many owls in your stamping arsenal!

{remember to click on pics to make  them larger...a fun little slide show pops up}

and here is a close up of the bookmark/tag. I actually cut them on a smooth cardbase that I messed up and was going to throw away. So instead...I stamped on it and then cut the images out and raised the owl up with a pop up dot.

And you need a card, RIGHT? I add some Hampton Art stamps to the envelope and the inside of the card. 

I mixed and matched some Step 3 layers and our Chocolate Box cardstock. Thought it went with the pink and brown thing. I have boys so I rarely get to use pink!!!!

SO..here is your list...happy hopping!!!

Britt Bass http://pinkpapercrowns.blogspot.com/

Vivian Keh http://contadinak.wordpress.com/

Ellen Sosnoski http://closeyourears.blogspot.com/ (you are here)

Remember to start at Core and end at Hampton Art---> THEY BOTH HAVE GIVEAWAYS!!!!

Hampton Art blog: http://blog.hamptonart.com/ START HERE

Core'dination's blog: http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/cat...scrapbook-blog/END HERE

Advent Calendar

I love hanging out over at The Paper Passion. I posted for some help with an advent calendar that will fit Legos and I got some GREAT ideas! After some web searching I thought of these bags from Whisker Graphics . The might be better know for Divine Twine..which of course I got some for the Holidays...the Green and Red spool which I used loads of for this project. I just didn't have time to alter something myself or even build one out of paper so these bags are perfect! 

 Well, I needed one that I could fit a Leg figurine so there needed to be room. I decided on some of the little treat bags from Whisper Graphics.  I knew the would be PERFECT to use when I got my Mullen Crest kit! (which is sold out, I hope you got yours..but there is still one Angel wings kit!!!)

Now..the lighting in our kitchen isn't so great so these first few pics are a bit rough (keep scrolling...I captured photos of them off the hooks for better lighting) I have this wire here already because I use clothespins that Owen and I painted to hang their artwork. I took that down, got some Melissa Frances clips and Voila! We have our 2013 Advent Calendar. PLUS, these were SO FUN to decorate!

The Jillibean Soup Label stickers from the kit fit perfectly along the top of the bags.

And some close ups of the gorgeous patterned papers in Mullen Crest. I used a snowflake punch and banner punch to get some of these embellishments and some rubons from my stash.

These photos are much better!

Banner punch, Martha holly punch, Spellbinder's die, Papertrey Ink die...

tools make life easy!

More punches and a glimpse of the pp in the Mullen Crest kit.

Here is Henry opening his bag for today:

Here he is digging in:

And Happy as a clam with a new Indiana Jones Lego guy :)

Stamping Galore!

Happy Monday! I love stamping so much. It was how I got into scrapping to begin with...and I got sentimental this weekend when I was cleaning out my closet and found a TON of old SU! order forms from when I was a demonstrator.  

So here are a few projects I worked on recently.

Cardstock is Core'dinations Core Impressions Jenni Bowlin red and black. It was the FIRST CI line that Core did and one of my faves!  Stamps are Sweet Stamp Shop and other bits are from old Cocoa Daisy kits. 

And some close ups of the stamping and other goodies. I put the tickets right on this layout.
I am seriously addicted to wood veneers. 

 This is the inside of the card below. Window cards are a fun way to spice things up ;)

This card uses a Cocoa Daisy stamp (the banner). It has a point on the other side but I cut that off to make it  more like a flag (Papers from The Paper Passion September Kit)

I used some Sweet Stamp Shop stamps here ...love these Alpha Doodles more than my own handwriting!

He is my bugger this kid...love him so much. 

Happy Stamping!

The Paper Passion

HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only four....I mean...TWO more Kits left!

The kit is called On Angel Wings and is debuting this weekend at The Paper Passion crop. PLEASE come and play with us. It's going to be GREAT!

Patterned Papers: ( 18 sheets-all double-sided):
- Cosmo Cricket “Jolly Days”  (Twinkle; Tradition; Snowfall; Ornaments; Gifts; Candy Cane)
- Simple Stories “Handmade Holidays”  (Music; Santa’s List; Dictionary; Notebook)
- Lily Bee “Memorandum”  (Office Blue; Payday; Boardroom; Cubicle)
- Prima “Madeline”  (Beautima; Ste. Marie)
- Crate Paper - Inventory
- Studio Calico – Guess your Weight

Cardstock:
- 2 sheets Bazzill cardstock 
- 2 pieces Core’dinations Cut ‘n Emboss

Embellishments:
- large sheet of handmade paper
- Glitz Teeny Alphas – Brown
- American Crafts “Reindeer” Thickers  **colours may vary**
- Cosmo Cricket “Jolly Days” Ready Set Chip
- Maya Road “Angel Wing” Mask
- Cosmo Cricket “Jolly Days” Sticker Sheet
- Studio Calico “Mister Huey” Opaque Mist – Silver
- Cosmo Cricket “Jolly Days” Element Deck
- 6 x Simple Stories “Handmade Holiday” Cards
- Cosmo Cricket Elements Cheer Wooden Buttons
- Paper Valise Bronze Stick pin
- Amy Tangerine Roller Date Stamp
- Maya Road Chalk Ink  (Leaf Green or Cloud White)
- 5 x Maya Road Kraft Doilies
- Crate Paper “Peppermint” border stickers
- 2 x shipping tags
- Making Memories heart shaped metal clip
- 2 x large Bazzill brads
- 1 yard Maya Road Soft Vintage Scallop Lace

You will love love Laci's kits from The Paper Passion!

Here are a few goodies I made with last months kit that sold out in a few days so get yours NOW!

First up is a fun bag of goodies...I LOVE love LOVE altering bags. These are just brown bags I get at Michaels for a a few bucks.

I thought the angle would work well on this card. I popped it up with some pop up dots.

And a layout....love the navy blue in the kit that Laci paired with the oranges and greens.  If you have ever read Shel Silverstein's "the Giving Tree" book than this layout is for you. I got this photo a few weeks ago at a wedding and it totally reminded me of that book.

Fun little trinkets, too!