Tuesday, March 31, 2009

And the winner is....

I used Random.org to select the winning number. The number chosen was...

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:3
Timestamp: 2009-03-31 17:21:21 UTC

That makes the winner...
Julie said...
Hi Tammy! And congrats on your milestone. I can only hope that I see more traffic on my blog(s). As to the posts on your blog, I think you cover a lot of different things. I wouldn't change a thing about that.JuliePS: My mom recently got into "Stampin Up" and is loving it. It has replaced her hobby of crochet (as she can no longer do that due to arthritis).

Julie could you please get me your snail mail addy ASAP. You can send it to me at tammybeaver@eastlink.ca I will be on vacation for a week and will mail it to you when I return. If I do not have your address by then I will use Ranom.org to select another winner.

Thanks so much,

Monday, March 30, 2009

Brayered Card

Here is the card I made for my Dad's mom, my Grandmother, on her 98th birthday this past weekend. 98 years Old! And she still has her wits about her and still is able to do things for herself. She needs some help, but she is amazing. I brayered the background on Glossy white cardstock, let it dry and them stamped the silhouettes in Basic Black and heat set the images. The main image is then matted onto basic black cardstock and some grosgrain ribbon is tied around the layer. Then it is mounted on the card base in Taken with Teal cardstock. I used my basic black Stampin Write marker to select one of the coneflowers and then stamped it off three times on the envelope and one on the inside of the card. I would have shown you that, but that picture turned out blurry.

Thanks for looking and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win here.


Thursday, March 26, 2009

Pretty Dress Card

I have seen a few of these adorable dress cards posted on SCS and thought I would give one a try. I did not have the template but cased one the best I could. I think it is a sweet template for a card and you could make it out of just about any DS paper. I think this would be great for a birthday card or for a party invitation.

A close up shows the bit of Bling I added to the waistband on the card. I used Stampin Up's new lace border punch and scallop border punch to make the waiste band. This card was very fn to make.
Don't forget to check out my free blog candy post here.
Thanks,





Tuesday, March 24, 2009

New Milestone and Blog Candy offer!

Well, I just logged in and noticed I was at a new milestone. 20 000 hits!

I think I should celebrate, don't you agree? I will offer a free classic ink pad and stamp set(my choice for both-it will be a surprise) and a Gratitude Journal (in natural colors) to a lucky visitor who leaves a comment about what they would like to see more of on my Blog. I am so grateful to all of you who have helped me reach this milestone.Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you are selected or I will do a second selection.
This offer will close one week from today on March 31, 2009 at noon.
Thanks,



Easter Treat Holders



A couple of treat holders for Easter.
This one is made using acetate and the Basket and Blooms BIzx xl die from Stampin Up. I covered the base and randomly over the basket with assorted sized and colored circles. I finished the bottom with a band of narrow grosgrain pink ribbon. On the inside I made homemade grass.
Here is a close up of the grass. I cut narrow strips of DS paper and then ran it through my crimper and then crumpled it in my hand. I liked doing this because it helped keep everything color coordinated. I used retired DS paper...Petals and Paisley. The colors in this paper are very suited to spring and Easter. Over the handle opening I used SU scallop cirlce punch and the one inch circle punch to create the decorative trim.

This one is a box that I designed. Really easy to make and can be adapted for any holiday or gift giving. It has a window made with a small rectangular nestability that is covered with acetate so you can see the treat inside, which I had none on hand, so you can see my box is empty.
The end opens up easily to add your treats and closes nicely as well since one of the four side has completely been removed. Here is a JPEG of the template I made for the box. To print it first click on it to open it in a new window and then print - this will be full size and hopefully it will be clear enough to see.
Oh and for a chance to win some Blog Candy check out this post.
Thanks,






Monday, March 16, 2009

"M" is for... Mini Book

Finally a new class. Seems like forever since I had one ready. Since the new year, I have been sick or the kids have been sick. I am starting to get some creative time in though now. I know it is a bit early but this project is intended for Mother's Day, although it could easily be for a friend or as just a personal mini album. I love the colors and like how the layout spans over two pages.
Here on the cover there are a mixture of textures and embellishments. This was so fun. The picture shows a bit of how nice it looks, but a picture never really captures the beauty of seeing it in person.


Here you can see how the layout spans over two pages. Pages include special extras, such as embossed textures, Prima flowers, and paper piercing.

Here is one more peek at the inside. Since this will be for a class, I can't show you all the pages. Hope you enjoyed the sneak Peek. I am looking forward to sharing this class with you. If I am able I will also try to get a PDF file of the tutorial available for purchase by the end of April, so if you are unable to attend a class locally, you can still create this adorable book in time for Mother's Day, in your area.
Thanks to all have purchased the Star tutorial available here . I am really pleased at how well it was received and look forward to creating more fun tutorials for you.
Thanks and have a great day,





Friday, March 13, 2009

More Gratitude!

I was asked to create one of my Gratitude Journals in custom colors. I really love how it turned out, maybe even better than my original colors.

As with the original, there are three sections inside. One for Friends you are grateful for.

One section for Things you are grateful for.

And one section for memories you are grateful for.


Thanks to all have purchased this wonderful little journal.


Have a great Day,






Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Top Note Bracket mini Tutorial


I was working on a project Saturday and thought of something else fun to do with the Top Note Die from Stampin Up. I have no idea if someone else has already thought of this, but anyway here is a mini tutorial on how to create brackets from the Top Note die. I am showing only the shorter side but this will work for the short side of the die as well as the long side, as you can see in the picture above.This die is great because you can easily cut chipboard with this die as well.
*Please note that this will work for other dies that are similar to the Top Note die for shape giving you a variety of bracket designs, such as the Spellbinder Nestability dies. I do not know that the Spellbinder dies will cut through heavy chipboard though.

Step 1: Place the paper over the end of the die. This does not need to cover the whole die, only the edge that you want the bracket from.

Step 2: Run through the Big Shot or other die cutting machine. (if you are not sure how to use the dies in your machine please see your instructional guides, I am assuming you know that part)
Step 3: This is what you will have after one run through the Big Shot.


Step 4: Reposition the cut out piece on the die so the edge of the cut out is near the outside edge of the die, but not off of the die as below.
Step 5: Run this through the Big Shot a second time, being careful that the paper does not move out of position.


Step 6: The result will be your bracket. The short side results in a bracket three and a half inches long and the long side results in a bracket four and a half inches long.


Hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial and are able to understand my directions. I tried to make it simple yet understandable. In doing so I hope it was not to brief that I made it confusing.
Thanks for looking and comments are always appreciated,







Monday, March 2, 2009

Some Long Overdue Scrapbooking.

I have a ton of pictures to scrapbook, but I rarely scrapbook. This weekend I actually felt in the mood and did some of my wedding pictures. Above is my dress. I made the dress. It is not designer material but I enjoyed being able to design and make it.
I like to add dimension to my pages. Here I used dimensionals to pop up this design stamped on Not Quite Navy cardstock and cut out. Below I also added flowers with gem stone centers to add interest to the page.

The next page uses die cut accents that have also been texture embossed. I had such fun creating these pages. If you are ever struggling for a layout idea you can get lots from Page Maps I used a couple combined to get these layouts. I rarely use an exact copy. But I like having a place to start when I get stuck.


Here is the entire page. My SIL and I made the bouquets at her house. We had a great time. She is very talented. She even wrote a poem for me that I read during the ceremony. I am glad to be back in creative mode. It had slowed down after the holidays and took a long time to come back. Of course it didn't help that I was sick for a long time.


There is still one opening for the blog challenge in the previous post.
Thanks so much for looking and comments are always appreciated,