Crafty: Cards and a Halloween Cat Swag!

Hello, my peeps!  Welcome back!

Today's post is just a few items I made in the past couple weeks. You can click on the pictures to see the original, larger size.

This card was commissioned by my co-worker, friend, and fellow wine connoisseur Julie. Her neighbor was moving to Venice Beach, FL and she asked for a going away card. This might be my most favorite card. I loved stamping it, coloring it, and designing the little sign post. I even looked up the mileage from Auburn to Venice Beach.

Car, Luggage & Phrase: Beautiful Ride stamp set from Stampin' Up (retired)
Fence: Halloween Scene Framelit from Stampin' Up (Current 2016-17 Holiday Catalog!)
Background: Happy Home from Stampin' Up (retired)
Ink & Paper: Don't remember. Stuff I've got laying around.

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This is the card I made for the last Stampin' Up workshop at Teresa's house. 

White background: Some embossing folder. I have a bazillion. And it was cut out using a framelit I got from SpellBinders years ago. They don't make it any more. :(

Flowers: Botanical Builder framelits from Stampin' Up (Current 2016-17 Annual Catalog)

Other Stuff: It's just other stuff. I don't know where it came from. My house???

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This wreath is all Peggy's fault! One afternoon on break, Peggster was checking out wreaths on Etsy. There were a number of them that cost a lot of money. One in particular didn't look too special, but it had a $220 price tag! Of course, I immediately opened my mouth and said, "I could make that!" So, I tried. I won't lie. My wreath is not as nice as the ones on Etsy. But it's not bad! Especially since it only cost me about $6. Most of the items are from the clearance rack or the Dollar Store. It's a lot more colorful and sparkly than the pictures shows. This thing was a byotch to photograph!

Skeleton: Dug it up in my backyard. What a find! (aka Dollar Tree)

Crow: They're a dime a dozen in this town! Especially at the Dollar Tree.

Hat: China! Seriously, I order my mini hats directly from China. I cannot find anyone that makes or sells them in the US. If they do, they're already decorated and cost about $20. Furgit it!

Pumpkins, ribbon, wreath: craft store clearance racks

Boo!: My mother. She gave me a beat-up clearance rack Halloween decoration with the intention that I could pilfer it for parts. And oh, I have! There's some black flowers on this thing (that you can't friggin' see) that also came from the decoration.

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Yesterday, I hung out with my friend Teena and her mother Sharon. Like me, Sharon is a Halloween freak and a serious crafter. I thought we'd just be drinking wine and checking out all the really cool Halloween decorations Sharon has. To my surprise, I was told we'd be making a Halloween swag. 

I gathered up everything I thought I might need.

As usual, I went overboard. But surprise! Surprise! I used something from each of these boxes. The ribbon, tulle, bobbles, bats, and balls all came from these boxes. There are some black mesh bows on the swag which came from Sharon, along with that fabulous cat face. As soon as she showed it to me, I knew I had to have it! KITTY! 

Sharon also shared her wire and the base to make the swag. She even took pity on me and made the bow at the top. In return, I let her take whatever she wanted of mine, including the large spool of pink ribbon that both she and Teena fell in love with. (I'm pretty sure I have another one around here somewhere.) Crafters love to share! The finished product is the ultimate goal, after all. :)

So, that's it for this week! Happy Crafting!

Steph

Crafty: World Card Making Day!

Today is World Card Making Day! Bet you didn't know that was a thing!

Am I making cards today? Probably not. Got too many other things to do. Shows to watch. Cats to pet. Toilets to pee in. My schedule is full! So is my bladder.

Anyhoo, here's some cards I made in the past couple weeks to share with you.

This is a beauty! The background is made using cardstock, ink, and a large stamp.

Flower: Stampin' Up Flourish Thinlit

Saying: Stampin' Up Banners for You & Bunch of Banners Framelits

Background Cardstock & Ink: Stampin' Up Emerald Envy (2016-2018 In Color)

Background stamp: Stampin' Up Floral Background Stamp (retired item)

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This is a Sophia the First card. I had no idea who Sophia the First was, so I googled it. I now know way too much about this little Disney princess. Waaaay too much. I started to ask questions, like, what happened to her Dad? How did he die? Were there witnesses? It's very suspicious. And I'm pretty sure that amulet is a euphemism for the heroin addiction in America.

The card was commissioned by my daughter Abby.
You have a daughter???
Chillax. She's a co-worker who sort of adopted herself to me.
The card is for her niece Madeleine. Yes. Madeleine. The name is misspelled and the typo was totally not my fault.
Nice going, Aunt Abby.
Next time Aebiegaile needs a card, I'm going to stick in extra E's all over the place... just in case.

Cutout: Some retired nestabilities framelit set from Sizzix I've had for years
Image: Totally swiped off the internet. Come at me, Disney!

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This card was inspired by another card I saw on the internet. I'd put a link to it here, but I'm feeling lazy. Besides, I changed enough elements that it's not an exact copy. I like it. Much better in person. This picture really sucks.

Background: Houndstooth embossing folder
Swirl: Stampin' Up Swirly Scribbles Thinlit
Saying: Stampin' Up Itty Bitty Banners & Bitty Banner Framelit
Pumpkin: Stampin' Up - 5 Large Oval punches (retired), leaf from Bird Builder (retired)
Twine: Something I found on the floor of my house???

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Ah, now this is nice. We learned to make this card at a card party. It was taught to us by our lovely Stampin' Up Rep Jessica Brigden. As a thanks, here is a free plug...

Flower: Stampin' Up Thoughtful Branches Bundle (August 2016 Special)

Ink and Paper : Um, I don't remember. I like to have a drink or two when I craft. 

Sounds like you have a problem.

It's not a problem! 

That's what all addicts say.

I can stop crafting whenever I want!

Here's one for my card making homies...

Happy World Card Making Day! 

XOX Steph

Crafty: Fall-ish Flower Card

Today's card is a total fail. At least in my mind. Why? Well, take a look at the card I was trying to replicate. It's on Stamping Inferno's blog.

Isn't it gorgeous?!?!

Now see what I made.

Oh, *insert your choice of swear word here*.

Problem#1 : I suck at picking out colors on my own. 
I wanted to make the card in fall colors. Orange and yellow. This is meh.

Problem#2 : I suck at embossing. 
The phrase "just because" on the original card was embossed with white powder. I tried to emboss my message and it looked like a Happy Birthday greeting that was trapped in a snowstorm. I even tried the anti-static trick with a dryer sheet. Nope. The embossing powder insisted on sticking to pretty much the entire corner of the black paper. So, I wiped it off and just stuck a message on there instead. Not nearly as awesome.

Ok,, the final outcome isn't bad, but it's nothing like I'd envisioned, so it's a fail. Of course, it won't stop me from selling them to my co-workers for $4. Ha!

The flowers are all made using the Botanical Builder Framelit Die set from Stampin' Up.
By the way, a wonderful set that rolled out so easily in the Big Shot! I do love it and will be using it a lot more in the future. I'll just stick to colors that won't offend Mother Nature.

The message is

* Disclaimer: I am not employed by Stampin' Up and they never asked for this. In fact, if they knew this was here, they'd probably send a cease and desist letter. What I am is a happy customer. I supply the names of the products (that I can remember) as a reference for my fellow crafters.

Crafty: Gold Rose Wedding Card

Today's card is a Mr. & Mrs. Wedding card with a Gold Rose on it.  The idea for the card was inspired (aka stolen) from Stamping Jo's website.  I saw it on Pinterest, a crafter's greatest internet resource.

Gluing the rose down was kind of a pain in the butt, even using the Fine-Tip Glue Pen from Stampin' Up. Most reps will tell you the glue dries clear. That's kinda true. It's clear, but you can still see it. Especially on black paper. So, gluing this beast of a die-cut and putting it in position without dragging the glue around is hard. For this reason, I only made two of these lovely cards and unless someone specifically wants more, I won't be voluntarily making more.

The gold rose is made using gold foil paper and the Rose Garden Thinlit from Stampin' Up.
The message is made using the Label Love stamp set and the Artisan Label punch, both retired products from Stampin' Up.
The rest of the card stock is from a local craft store. I have so much paper that I rarely ever remember where it came from.

* Disclaimer: I don't work for Stampin' Up and they didn't ask me to do this. In fact, if they knew me they'd probably ask me to stop. I happen to be a customer and supply the names of the products I use just as a reference for fellow crafters in case they like what they see here.

Crafty Catch-Up

Hello internet peoples. I'm back for lordy knows how long this time. Every time I start to write something for this blog, I get overwhelmed by how long it's been and I quit. So this time I'm just gonna finish it, gosh-darn-tooty. No editing, no second-guessing. Here goes...

This is a crafty catch-up post. Here's what you might have missed. Some of these pics have been on the Facebook thingy, but not everyone stalks me over there, so I'm putting them here too. And since it looks like the last crafty post was October of last year, this might get a little long.

If you can't see the pictures well enough, you can click on them and they will expand. I don't suggest you do that with any pictures of my face. I look much better from a safe distance.

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My buddy, co-worker, and kick-arse yogini Teresa (Hi Boss!) requested a few cards over the year.

The shoe is a shrinky-dink wine glass charm. You can buy ink-jet shrinky-dink paper and use the embossing gun to shrink it in seconds. It's so cool to work with.

I loved this birthday card for the nature-loving male in your life. Now that I think about it, I think it went to a hunter. I shoulda put a target on that deer. Next card might be from the perspective of a scope with the cross-hairs on Senor Venison Steaks. Too rude? Maybe. But sometimes you just wanna make an evil-voodoo greeting card.

This was a large card that she requested for a friend that was going through a tough-time. It ended up being kind of bulky in the end, but it was worth it. The butterfly and roses were punch-outs that I filled in one piece at a time. Quite lovely.

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Last April, my brother-from-another-mother Jeff decided to throw a surprise birthday party for his wife Bonny at Belhurst. Ok. Let me correct that. In June of 2015, Jeff told me he wanted to throw Bonny a surprise birthday party for her next birthday.

Cue 4 months of :
Jeff: I'm so nervous about this party!
Me: It's a little early to be worrying about this.

Then another 4 months of:
Jeff: I'm so nervous about this party!
Me: You're good.

Then 1 month of:
Jeff: I'm so nerv--
Me: Oh, my God! It's fine!

Then a final month of:
Jeff: I'm so nerv--
Me: Oh, just give me the name of the party planner at Belhurst. I'll talk to her.
Jeff (with that adorable little boy grin he has): Thank you.

Actually, he wasn't that bad. Not all the time, any way.

Jeff did a great job, Bonny was surprise, and we all had a wonderful time. I made place cards for the dinner that had people's names on the front, a little pic of their food choice, and their meals written on the back, which I've been told the staff at Belhurst was thrilled with. Here's a few examples.

Since it was Bonny's 50th, Jeff planned a special gift for her. Tickets to see a Cubs game. This is something she mentioned several times over the years and Jeff decided to take her. He asked for a special card and I came through with this...

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Let's lump all the hats and costume pieces in one section here.

For Halloween, Drew, the Gilfus sisters, and I went to Americana Winery for a costume party. It was one of the most fun times I've ever had. Every guest had on a costume. Given the proximity of Americana to Ithaca, there were a lot of creative costume and several dance squads, which makes for fantastic people-watching. We danced for four hours. We did!! It was a great time!

The theme was Bedtime Stories. Drew and I went as the Queen of Hearts and Madhatter. Below is my mini-hat, wand, and about the only good photo we got of the event, which is unfortunate, because I made my costume which was a long white bib with hearts on it that I tacked over my red shirt and black palazzo pants. I could move, dance, and (most importantly) use the bathroom without problems. And, of course, I made Drew's top hat too.

Mardi Gras around Cayuga Lake. I made a funky necklace and supermini-hat. It's a teeny-tiny top hat! I wish I'd gotten a picture of the one I made for Stacey. I really need to make a better effort to take more pictures. 

Just for fun. A gothic steampunk hat complete with aviator glasses, a crow, feathers, and a black/red silk tail.

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Let's show off some banners.

Christie, who works in my department and who is also a card maker, had a baby boy this year. Christie and Tim are both Fleming firefighters so I put fire badges in the middle of the red tulle that you can't actually see. The hot air balloons (which looked so much bigger and cooler when I made them at home) have little dalmatians wearing fireman caps in the baskets. (Dammit. Why didn't I take pictures of the balloons? They were neat!)

Hi Christie!!  By the way, that awesome cake was from Wegmans.

The MCL Department at work (and no, I don't know what MCL stands for any more) commissioned a generic baby shower banner because every other person over there is preggers. Haha!

For Stacey's birthday, I made a LIVE-LAUGH-LOVE banner and I hung it up in her living room without her permission. I'm a reverse crafty pirate. I will come into your home and add stuff to it then intimidate you into appreciating it. LOL! Actually, I think she does really like it. I told her she doesn't need to keep it up. And now that I've written this, I feel kinda jerky. Oh well. I'll get over it. Ha!

The flowers on the ends of the above banners are paper. I created a cut file for my Silhouette Portrait to cut out the petals and leaves. I put them together using hot glue. It's actually really simple. Those are half-size flowers. The full-size is below:

Normally, I would never photograph myself, but I wanted to convey the true size of those huge flowers.

Here's a close-up of the half-size flowers. 

The bottom flower and card I made for my Stampin' Up rep Jessica Brigden. She's been with Stampin' Up for 10 years and we went to her Stampiversary Party. Jess is the most awesome-est SU rep and a total sweetheart. Check her out on Facebook -- JESS B-CREATIVE "CARD"IOLOGY

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Here's a couple cards that I made specially. 

This was the birthday card I made for my telescope-fanatic hubby. He framed it. Aaaaaaah. *sniffle*

This was the card I made my mother-in-law for her birthday last week. Love that Blushing Bride glimmer paper from Stampin' Up!!

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Here's a huge collection of the cards I've made over the past year. (My mom really likes to see these.)

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If you made it this far, then you deserve a reward. 

I made this for one of my co-workers when she was having a particularly bad day and getting really anxious for the workday to end so she could go camping.

Some days I feel the same way about gin.

~Steph