The Three Snowman

Good Evening,

Friday night already. Well I've had quite the week. Between computers and card classes I've kept quite busy.

I believe I had mentioned I was going to go to a card class offered by a Stampin' Up demo, Terri Mills. I found her through the Stampin' Up Demo locator. The locator listed ten different people within a 5 mile radias but Terri was the only one who had anything listed for classes on her website. The class was fantastic. Made eight different cards & envelopes for $20.00. Price was great. Everything was very organized. Stations were set up, you received your package of precut items (and I might add everything was cut precisely, no need to trim) and worked your way through the stations. Used the big shot for die cutting and embossing, new tips on shimmer paint, used stencils just to cover a few of the ideas. I'll share more of them as I post the cards from the class. If you're in the Woodlands area and are looking for classes she is one to check out.

A little about the actual card now. Everything used is from Stampin' Up. A nice big snowflake punch. I love how the ribbon was used for the scarves. I think the name of the stamp set was Christmas Punch but there are numerous snowman stamps that you could use. I think I have one that has long since been retired that would work well. Just have to find it in my boxes of still packed stamps. No major techniques on this one but very cute! Lots of layers to give the extra "WOW" factor. You know me, I like layers! So Wednesday was a very good day.


Thursday was not so good. I took a class at a local scrapbook store and was very disappointed. I did not complete any of the four cards. I brought everything home unglued so I could try and trim the pieces so they would fit properly. Probably won't take more classes. Also I got my computer back but it still seems to be having some glitches and for the price I paid to have it fixed it should be new!

Enjoy your week-end.

Yvonne

What to call it? Accordian, Z, Easel Card

Good Morning,

Uneventful day yesterday. A computer guy came and checked out my desktop, after 2 hours of not being able to get all the viruses out he's took it home to either wipe the hard drive or try a couple other things on it. It won't be back for a couple of days.

Heading out the morning to a card class. A local SU demo runs classes in her home so though I would check it out. I'll let you know how it goes and share my projects.

So what would you call todays card? I don't know either! lol It is very easy to make though. Looks harder than it is. Are you ready, here's the directions.

Base is 11 x 4 1/2" scored at 5 1/2 and 2 3/4". Now (I use my Fiskars cutter but you can use and exacto knife too), you need to create a window, my window has a 3/4" border. From the 2 3/4" score line place your paper in the cutter 3/4" and cut down 2 1/4", rotate and make sure you keep the 3/4" on all sides. Start with some cheap paper and make a template first so you understand how it all goes together and then get out your favorite paper. That's how I usually do mine when I'm working with a design I haven't done before. Now that you have cut the window, fold the window portion back to the spine. I placed pattern paper on the portion that folded back. It was cut 4" x 2 1/2" and then I cut out the centre leavng 1/2" border. Fits in there perfect. Don't throw away that little piece you just cut out. I used that piece for the photo corners you see in the centre. I used the small photo corner from SU's punch (it has two different sizes of photo corners on one punch). Punch out three of them. The diamond in the centre of the card. Celery - 2 3/4" square and the dark green color is 2 1/2" square glued together. When putting your glue down just watch the you don't get glue in the top and bottom right hand corners as there is a small part of the square that will show through to the inside of the card. Embelish the lower left hand corner of card. I used my scallop punch with a raised up image. If you don't put an image there make sure you have enough scrap pattern paper to punch out an additional photo corner. Also when I folded back the window frame I DID NOT glue it down. It raises up slightly just to create a little more depth on the card. Also the scallop circle was only glued to the very front of the card so again take care where you are putting your glue.

For the inside pattern paper 5 1/4" x 4" and then I put additional layers of cardstock as the pattern paper was dark and I wouldn't be able to write on it. So my layers there are 2 5/8" x 4 1/8" (dark green) 2 1/2" x 4" (celery).

Rudolph's nose has crystal effects on it and quite a bit so it is nice and raised. I colored in the stamp with my markers so I could two-tone it. Chocolate Chip Brown for the reindeer and Always Artichoke for the words around the deer. Colored the nose in with Really Red.


Let me know what you think of this card. If you make a card of this design send me a pic and I'll put it up on the blog. Like to see others work. You can send it to ybalmer@hotmail.com or you can always leave comments in the comments section. If you're reading from a subscription to my blog you're probably not even seeing the blog itself. You have to click on the name of the post to get to the my actual blog. Even the article looks differnt there as there are not ads and it's prettier. lol At the bottom of each post is a comments section. I've added this little bit of info as I know some of you were unaware of this.

Off to card class - enjoy your day.

Yvonne

Embossing on Pattern Paper

Good Morning,

The sun is shining and it looks like a nice day. Yesterday was overcast and dull.

Didn't get around to post yesterday as my desktop computer is having issues. After I start it I get a black screen with a white cursor. It goes all through the process but windows doesn't want to load. I've got an e-mail into Geeks on Wheels but nobody has returned my call so I think I maybe moving onto somebody new. I did figure out how to upload using my laptop without uploading all the pics I have on my camera card.

I made this card yesterday. Dug out a very old retired Stampin' Up set. I always did like this set though. There's another image of a little child with a snowman too. I colored the image first with Copics and then I had to start looking for paper that would match. The bright blue is a retired color from SU and the red pattern paper I've had for years. I was trying to figure out what to do with the background and then decided I would try embossing on the pattern paper. After the image was embossed I sanded it off so it would stand out a little more. Everything still looked a little flat so I cut the pattern paper in two and slipped a piece of the blue inbetween to make it look like more layers and it breaks up the front of the card. The card is a 5 1/2" square. Merry is from a differnt stamp set and the cocoa cup is also from the snowman set. Nestabilites used to cut out the circle and layer up the image. Notice his little hat and marshmellows - I used Puffy Fabric paint I got from Michaels. I used to use liquid applique but it can be hard to find. The puffy fabric paint comes in a huge bottle and you just squeeze it out. I let it drive for 10 - 15 minutes and then use my heat tool to puff it up. Looks so cute!



Yesterday I signed up to take a card class on Thursday morning at the local scrapbook store. I will share them with you once I've completed them. Also found a hair salon yesterday. Nothing exciting done. Just colored and a bang trim. My driving around was fairly uneventful yesterday. Missed a couple of turnoffs but won't make the same mistake twice. You learn through your mistakes! Remember that when you are crafting, there are no mistakes just learning experiences. I've had a lot of learning experiences in my crafting life. lol

One more bit of exciting news. My Grandbaby is crawling. Only 6 1/2 months. I know, I'm so proud! lol

Have a Great Tuesday and I'll see you tomorrow.

Yvonne

A "Beary" Christmas

It's TGIF. What could be better than that?

So finished my version of the "Easel Card" aka Halloween card posted a couple of days ago.

I used Stampin' Up cardstock and pattern paper. The bear stamp is from Stamp City. It was colored in with Copics. Using your watercolor crayons you could create a similiar effect. Just remember to stamp it on watercolor paper if you are going to be using a lot of water with your crayons. That's the beauty of copics is that you can go over and over the same area with the markes without effecting the quality of the paper. I did use the ornaments cuttlebug folder on the celery background. The bear has pop dots under him and the "Holiday Hello" in the corner - the centre has a Making Memories clear bubble over the words. If you have crystal effects you could create a similiar look.

Side view isn't a great shot but you get the idea.

Just a short chit chat today. Went yesterday to the Motor Vehicles to exchange my Nova Scotia license (sniff) for my Texan license. I just want you to know the government agency here is just as friendly as all those motor vehicle offices in Canada. lol You all know what I mean. Would it hurt them to smile, just once?

I probably won't post again until Monday but I do have it already done and it is another interesting fold. Most of the cards for the next month will all be of the Christmas variety.

Not sure what my plans for the week-end are but I'll let you know on Monday. Have an enjoyable week-end.

Yvonne

Boo - a little late!

Happy Wednesday Folks,

It's going to be another sunny day here in the mid twentys. almost makes it hard to craft...not really. lol

First off my cell phone story. I gave up my Canadian cell phone and need to get another one here. I'm trying to find a carrier that will give me free long distance back to Canada. Almost all of the companies that I check into give free long distance nationally and to Mexico. I finally find one company that has long distance to Canada included in the plan. I won't mention the specific carrier. I go in sign up, get the phone and head home. The next day the movers are delivering stuff and DH is trying to get a hold of me as no house phone yet. I keep losing his connection in the house. Don't really think much of it as I was a little pre-occupied. The next day I'm wanting to call my DD. We always have a long chit chat. So a couple of things are going on this night. There's quite a storm happening. I believe we may have even had flooding and tornado watches out for the evening. Surprising enough I didn't get to fussed about it. So I ring her up from my kitchen and after about 30 seconds the call is dropped. Hmmm....I check the bars on my phone and I don't have any. I run around the house and in certain areas I might get one bar but it comes and goes. Turns out if I sit on the roof I might get reception. So I go out to my front step to call her back. I get one bar if I tilt my head the right direction. So we're having our chit chat. Important stuff you know...Survivor, Amazing Race, what we ate for supper.
Now I will get off topic for just a minute...I maybe living in the Houston area but we are in a quiet little subdivision off of a state reserve. So earlier in the day I saw a squirell in the backyard. No big deal, seen lots of squirells. Later in the afternoon coming home from shopping there is a deer at the end of the street. Seen lots of deer too and in town (Alberta) but we had our share of deer in our subdivision in Antigonish (NS)too. Here's what I wasn't prepared for. Back to the part about it being 10:00 at night sitting on my front step talking to the DD this racoon came scooting around the corner looked up at me and I swear at that point the DD didn't need a cell phone connection to hear me. I'm not sure who was more surprised me or the racoon. Needless to say he ran off and my DD wanted to know if I had stepped on the poor thing as she was sure by the screach that it had to be a wounded animal.lol At the end of the day I've taken my cell phone back and am still looking for another provider.

CARD INFO

Now for what all you crafters have been really waiting for a little info about todays card. First off, I didn't make this card. It was given to me by a good friend, Ann. Okay, I had to beg for it a little bit but she did give it to me anyway.
I thought it was such a unique fold. There are about 5 different layers on this card, lot of cut out work. The window is cut out and then popped up for a little more depth. The bats and skelton are all cut out. This card is a regular 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card. You can close it up and mail it in a regular envelope. The front part is scored at 2 3/4" and folded in half so it will stand. You stamp and decorate it anyway you want but so it will stand notice the tab at the very top of the card where the little gem brad is. It's designed so the front of the card can slide under the tab so the card will stay standing up. So cute. I'm going to try one of these in the next couple of days. If I could just find my Christmas stamps maybe I would try it with one of them. (All my stamps are still in boxes until I get shelves for them. ugh)
Thanks again Ann for the great card.



Found the mop, darn, guess I'm off to wash floors now. Enjoy your day.

Yvonne

I'm Back - House Mouse Christmas

Hello Everyone,

I officially moved into our new home a week ago. Things are unpacked and put away (except the garage, not my domain). Over the next few days I'll share little tidbits of our moving in with you as well as a new project each time. So for the bloggers that only want the scoop on the project just scroll down to the pictures and for all others read from the top down.

Last Monday (October 26th) was the date the movers were to deliver furniture. Wouldn't you know it - no rain for days and the day we want our furniture it rains, and rains and rains. Not just a drizzle either. They unloaded a few boxes that days and finished up on Tuesday. Most of what they unloaded the first day was garage stuff. Too bad as it would have been nice to have organized some stuff before more boxes arrived. Have you ever noticed when you are moving that it doesn't matter how organized you have your cupboards, closets, drawers or whatever they can still manage to take something from a downstairs bathroom and put it in a box with the good china? Maybe they do that in an attempt to make sure you unpack all boxes between moves.

I also unpacked my craft room last. As many of you know I had my craft room located in the attached garage at my last location. Mistake. Not only was my craft stuff in there but also boots, coats, shoes, fitness equipment, typical garage stuff - like flashlights, Canadian Tire Money, and anything else that didn't seem to have a home somewhere else. When they labelled the boxes it all was labelled "Craft Room". My craft room was full of boxes here that weren't my craft room stuff. Won't make that mistake twice!

That's all I'll share of those stories today but I will get to today's project.This is a House Mouse stamp. I had stamped off a few images of it before I left. Thanks Skylar for the use of your stamp. My goal was to color a bunch of them in while I was between houses. I packed my Copics and everything with me. Well I only got two images colored in.
So the images was colored with Copics. All the berries have Crystal Effects on them. Gives that nice raised up glossy look to them. The holly leaves have Dazzling Diamond glitter on them. Used my scallop nestabilities to create the window effect on the card. In two of the corners I cut out holly images using the Cricut, applied Dazzling Diamonds to them as well and then put a red Dew Drop with each holly leaf. didn't glue down the corners of the leaf to give the card a little more dimension.



That's all I've got for today. Will have a special project to share tomorrow. It's a Halloween card but a neat design. I didn't make it but want to try something similar with different stamps.
Be sure to check back!

Yvonne

Purple Bear & New Border Punch Uses

This is my last pre-loaded card I have on my computer but I may have a couple other things I'll be able to share in the next couple of days.

This is the same SU set I used a few days ago for the side step card. This time I made it a monochromatic card. Makes it easy to do it in whatever color you want. I used Vintage Purple which was an "In Color" with Stampin' Up a couple of years ago. The background I cuttlebugged with the snowflakes folder then I ran it through my sticker maker and then put gliter ritz all over the background. In a lot of places only the raised up areas grabbed the adhesive which was kinda cool.

I did get to the Make & Take at the scrapbook store on Wednesday. They had punched out a big flower, probably 2 1/2" in diameter with five petals. They then used a border punch and only punched the ends of each petal. We punched another flower just slightly smaller and then inked up the tips on both flowers. Then we made a brad to put in the centre using the new Imaginice Brad Maker. I bought one from The Cutting Garden just before I left and only had time to play and make one brad but it did work nicely. Looking forward to trying it out some more.

Please bear with me as I was unable to edit the photos on the laptop. Actually just not sure how to do it on this one.

Stop now if you don't want to read about my personal ramblings....

Now I'll give you an update on the rest of my driving days. After the trip to the scrapbook store I came back to the apartment for a mental rest. Watched a little TV then headed out to pick up some groceries for supper. There should be a grocery store every three blocks but I couldn't seem to find one. The area is really nice cause they hide all business behind trees to keep things pretty. Great, except when you need to see these buildings to know where to turn. I thought I knew where the grocery store was as we had gone there before. At the end of the day I ended up at a Super Walmart and picked up what I needed. Oh, did I mention that it took me two hours to get $20.00 worth of groceries and ....I could have probably walked there in 15 minutes.
About the same story for yesterday trying to find the post office. I even had the GPS with me but I kept driving in circle...I knew I was close but couldn't find it. It's like a maze.
What to do today. Another Make & Take at the scrapbook store. No problem, I know how to get there. They are doing it on the Bazzill stitching templates. Hey, I've got one of those but never used it. Maybe I'll pick up some tips. Other than that, WE GET OUR HOUSE TODAY! Yippee!
Well that's a wrap for today. have a good week-end.

Yvonne