Sunday, June 28, 2009

Weiman Wrangler's




A few weeks ago a wonderful little boy named Ethan Weiman lost his battle with cancer. I have been following his story on his mom Alicia's blog for awhile now and when I heard this news it broke my heart. I can't even imagine how hard this must be for his family especially his mother to be dealing with but hopefully they can find some comfort in knowing that he is not suffering anymore and is in a better place now riding his beloved horse Sonador. You can read more about his story here.
In honor of Ethan, Lauren Meader came up with a wonderful idea to have a stamp set made for him and Melissa from Pink Cat Studios designed it. All the proceeds from the stamp set will go to the Make a Wish Foundation. You can get the stamp set here.
Today I am sharing a card I made in his honor. I am hoping to be able to send the card to his sister Ava since I read that she loves getting cards. Even though she is only 3 I am sure this has to be very hard on her too.
Ethan loved being a cowboy so I came up with the idea to make a boot card. I started by finding a boot template here I cut out the template then folded a piece of PTI Dark Chocolate Cardstock in half and using the template as a guide I cut it out leaving the fold. Next I printed the images out on Stampers Select white cardstock and colored them in with Copics. I read on Alica's blog about the colors Ethan liked to wear so I tried to incorporate them in his image. I was not sure what Ava's favorite colors were but I am assuming she likes pink like most little girls. After I colored the images I added some sky and tuffs of grass with my copics as well. When I was done with that I did the Out of the Box technique then matted them on some PTI Pure Poppy cardstock. The next thing I did was run the boot through my cuttelbug using the Tiny Mosaic embossing folder to make the boot look like leather then I finished it off with some faux stitching. For the inside of the card I lined it with some more PTI Pure Poppy cardstock then printed out the HOWDY image and added it to the middle.


I know these images will be getting a lot more use because I already have some other ideas for them. Each time I use them I will be thinking about Ethan and honoring the short time he had here on earth. I hope you will go and buy the images and use them in Ethans honor now too. That's it for now. I hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Pink Saturday

It's time for another Pink Saturday Post. I don't know where the weeks go. Summer had finally made it's appearance here this week but unfortunately severe weather has returned again. The tornado sirens were even going off yesterday too. Thankfully there were no tornado's in site though. Hopefully all this severe weather will go away soon and summer will make it's return again.
Today I am sharing a pink card that I made with a special alcohol ink technique and originally shared when I started my blog almost 2 years ago. You can read more about it in this post.
Did you know the average price of a Hallmark card is $4.95 now? I am running a buy 3 for $10.00 special on many of my cards including this one in my Etsy shop so come on by and check them out. You can't get a deal like that at Hallmark and all my cards are handmade too. In the meantime make sure to check out Beverly's blog for a list of the other participants. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great Pink Saturday!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

PTI June Bloghop

Tonight is the Papertrey Ink June Bloghop.
The challenge this month is to get inspired by the lazy days of summer and reflect your inspiration in a project of your choice! Whether it be the colors in your favorite summer treats, the pattern on your bathing suit & beach towel or even the texture of the sand between your toes, use any or all of these things as a springboard for your design.
Summer is my favorite season. Something I love doing in the summer is to sit in the backyard and read a book while Emilia swims in the pool. Unfortunately the weather has not been cooperating much lately. Emilia and I went with my mom to Hobby Lobby this afternoon and we got caught in a major downpour. It actually looked like a hurricane and we don't have those here. There was so much water on the roads that we had to stop at my moms and wait it out. I am finally home safe and sound now but it is getting ready to storm again though.
For this challenge. I decided to use this beach towel from Land's End Kids for inspiration
This is what I came up with.

I also used CPS Sketch 121 as my layout
I started by stamping the flower images from the Beautiful blooms set with Versamark Ink on New Leaf cardstock. After that I embossed the images with different colored embossing powder. When I was done with that I used a white gel pen to highlight the dots in the middle of the flowers. Next I stamped the flip flops from The Day At The Beach Set on Stampers Select White Cardstock with Momento Black and Raspberry Fizz ink then I cut them out with a 1 1/4" circle punch then I attached it to a plain black circle and a Summer Sunrise scalloped circle. A piece of Raspberry Fizz Saddle Stitched Ribbon and 2 faux Summer Sunrise brads finish it off. The final card size is 41/2x 51/2. I would have liked to have added The Joys of Summer Sentiment on the ribbon but it was missing from my brand new Day At The Beach Set. I think it looks okay without it though. What do you think? I also took the picture on Emilia's swim raft which I think came out pretty cool. I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the ladies have come up with now. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great night.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Pink Saturday and A Crochet Video

Happy Pink Saturday! The pink items I am sharing with you today are these little pink crochet flowers I made which are very popular right now.
I have been knitting for years but a few months ago I taught myself to crochet too. When I saw the pattern for these flowers on Nicole Heady's blog a few weeks ago I knew I wanted to give them a try. At first I had a hard time figuring out how to do the second layer but I finally got it. A few days later I was over at the Papertrey forum and saw there were some ladies there that were having problems figuring out the second layer too so I told them I would do a video showing how I do it. I don't know the name for the stitch I used but if you do let me know. I think it may be a frontpost or a backpost though. Anyways I hope the video helps to explain the second layer for those of you that were having problems with it. You can find the rest of the pattern here.
Don't forget to go to Beverly's blog to see the list of the other ladies that are participating in Pink Saturday today too.
I am also doing a giveaway in the next post for a package of wood veneer so be sure to check that out as well. I will be back soon with more crafty things to share until then have a great Pink Saturday and I hope you enjoy the video.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Technique Tuesday Wood Veneer Video and a Giveaway

ETA: I had Emilia pick a number this morning and the winner is #6 Julie M!


For this months technique video I am going to be talking about the Wood Veneer and showing you some cool things you can do with it. The Dad card above is on the video but I did not have time to show you exactly how I made it so I wanted to include that information here as well. I used SCS sketch 74 for the layout and created a tri-fold card. I started with a piece of PTI Kraft cardstock 81/4x51/2 then I folded it in half and scored the front piece at 2 1/8 then folded it back. After that I added the patterened paper which is from the Papertrey Fathers Knows Best Paper Pack. The rest of the information about the card is on the video. This card is up for sale in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested in buying it.

I am also doing a giveaway for one package of the Wood Veneer. All you have to do is leave me a comment here along with a way to contact you and 1 week from today I will have Emilia draw a winner. If you would like to purchase some in the meantime you can buy it in My Etsy shop too. I hope this video inspires you to give it a try. If you have any questions about it that were not covered on the video let me know. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the video.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Pink Saturday

This was our first week of summer break but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. It has been cool and raining here all week so there was no pool time for us. Instead I have been going through more of Emilia's things and getting rid of the stuff she has outgrown or no longer needs. Every time I think I have made some progress I find more things to go through. It is my own fault though because I use to have trouble getting rid of things. I am doing a lot better now though. One of my nail clients is a pre-school teacher so I was able to give a lot of things to her the rest of it went to families in my homeschooling group. I still have stuff that needs to go to Goodwill though. It has been a lot of work but at least I know all the stuff will be put to good use so that makes it easier for me to get rid of it.
I was also able to do some stamping and sewing this week too. When I participated in the 10 day Etsy challenge I discovered Lilly Pulitzer Fabric from Lynn's work. As most of you know I love bright colors so I fell in love with this fabric. I was able to find some from a seller on Etsy and this is what I came up with
A Mini Turtle Rag Bag
This bag is half the size of the owl rag bag I shared a few weeks ago. I think this bag would be a great way for a little girl to carry around her favorite stuffed animal.
Emilia's Pink Webkinz Poodle Amanda is modeling it for you. I also think the bag would make a great tote to carry small things in for moms too.
All the printed fabric is Lilly Pulitzer but I made the Polka Dot fabric by stamping the med size polka dots from the Papertrey Polka Dots Basics set with Razpberry Fizz Perfect Match ink on white cotton Fabric. I also stamped the polka dots on white grosgrain ribbon to match too. This bag is up for sale in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested in buying it. I am also participating in the Etsy Yart sale this weekend and am offering 10% off of anything in my shop this weekend too. That's it for now. I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Make sure to check out Beverly's blog to see what the other participants are sharing today too. I hope to get time later today to make a video about the wood veneer so check back next week for that as well. In the meantime I hope you all have a great pink Saturday and as always thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Star Quilt Card



I hope you all are having a good Sunday. Unfortunately it started raining about noon here. It is has stopped for now but is still rather chilly out.
I was finally able to get something new made this weekend. Or I should say finished. I orginally started working on this card for the Etsy Sheteam June challenge. The theme was Patriotic. I also just found out that Stamp TV is having a red white and blue color challenge this week too but it can't be patriotic. I think this card qualifies for both what about you?
To make the card I started by downloading and printing out some of the free Stars and Stripes and Summer Fabrics digital papers from Gina K. You can get them from the Freebies link on the Stamp TV site. Next I punched out 1 1/4 squares from the cardstock I chose to work with then I went to work piecing the star together on PTI Stampers Select white cardstock. When I was done with that I machine quilted the whole thing. Next I stamped and embossed the Celebrate saying from Melanies Jumping For Joy set with white embossing powder on a square of PTI red cardstock then I faux stitched around it. I matted the finished piece on Papertrey Ink Night Sky Shimmer Cardstock. The finished card size is 51/2x51/2. I also lined an envelope using the directions from this video to go with it too. This card is up for sale in my Etsy shop
Tomorrow my homeschool group meets and we are starting a horse unit study then it is our first week with no school. After that I hope to get some more new things made and then I will be back to share them with you. Until then I hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Pink Saturday

It's time for Pink Saturday again. I can't believe how fast the weeks go by. Emilia and I finished 5th grade on Thursday. We are both looking forward to enjoying some time off now before we start 6th grade later this summer. It is always a good feeling to know we have made it through another grade together. Yesterday we all went to see Night At the Museaum. It ended up costing $45.00 for the 3 of us because it was on the IMAX Screen. Rich and I still can't believe we spent that much to see it. The only good thing for that price was there were no previews. The movie was pretty good but definitely not worth that price. This will probably be the only movie we see this year after that.
My pink item today is this card.
I originally shared it in this post but decided to post it again because I thought it would be a great Pink Saturday share. These were my inspiration for this card.
Stuffed pink hippos are very popular in this house and they all have a unique personality of their own. The large hippo's name is Margaret or Maggie Lou as we like to call her. She is a very fun loving hippo and loves cake especially Lemon. Her true love is Johnny Bravo the cake baker but she also loves Duff from Ace of Cakes and has now taken a liking to Buddy from The Cake Boss too. I knitted the pink sweater she is wearing as well. Lila is Emilia's most beloved hippo of all. As you can see from the photo she is not very pink anymore but that is because of all the love she has gotten. Lila is a very sensitive hippo and her favorite things are art and Cat Deely the host from So You Think You can Dance. The card is up for sale in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested in buying it. That's it for now. You can see the list of the other participants on Beverly's Blog too. I will be back next Saturday with more pink things to share in the meantime I hope to get some time to stamp some new things this weekend. As always thanks for stopping by and have a great Pink Saturday!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Etsy 10 Day Challenge Day 10

The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining. That makes me very happy. It was so cold this morning I had to turn the heat on though. It is warming up now and is suppose in the 80's tomorrow thankfully.
For those of you that are interested the appointment with the ENT went okay yesterday. He didn't really have any answers for me as to why I have been getting the ear infections but he also agreed that it is very unlikely the my mouth problem is cancerous too. It also turns out that the sore that was there when I saw the dentist a month ago is gone just like I thought. The ENT is going to talk to the oral surgeon to see if it would be worth doing a CAT scan of the bony part but in the meantime I am leaving it alone and going on with my life until I see a new dentist for my next regular checkup in 6th months. If anything new develops in the meantime I will let you know. Thanks to all the people who kept me in their thoughts and said a few prayers for me during all this though.
Today is the last day of the Etsy 10 day Challenge. YAY!!!!!!! I have completed it. The best thing about it has been getting to know all the other participants better and seeing their work. The downside of it is it has been a bit stressful to list and blog everyday and I have not received any sales (yet) but it is still not to late to take advantage of the 10% off sale. It ends tonight though.
That card I am sharing with you today is this card. You can see the full listing here. I originally share this card here on my blog in this post. The envelope is a standard A2 size but I used this great tutorial from Julie Ebersol to make it fit and now the card is mailable. I have already shared all the other participants work but I will still have links to their blogs on my sidebar so you can continue to check out their shops if you would like to. I also want to say thanks again to Amanda for coming up with the challenge.
Tomorrow is Emilia's last day of 5th grade. We will be taking at least 6 weeks off after that so I hope to get a lot of new stuff made to share with you then. I am going to take a few days off from blogging after this post too but I will be back on Saturday with something to share for Pink Saturday. Until then I hope the rest of your week is a great one and as always thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Etsy 10 Day Challenge Day 9

It is raining like crazy here right now so I was not able to retake pictures of my listing today. I took these last week before I learned that great photo taking information I shared yesterday. I think these are still okay though. Today I am listing this card. I originally share it in this post but never listed it on Etsy until now. You can see the full listing here.

I am also sharing this card today from Isabella Flora's Shop
She uses the pictures her 91 year old father takes for inspiration then paints them with watercolors. This is my favorite card from her shop. I love everything about but especially how colorful it is. You can see the full listing here Be sure to check out her shop to see the other great items she has listed as well.

Unfortunately I still have not gotten anything new made yet. I have a lot of ideas though and I started to work on something yesterday but got sidetracked. I am not going to have any time to stamp today either because I have to go to the ENT this afternoon about my ears. I am going to talk to him about my mouth problem then too. By the way I finally heard back from the oral Surgeon yesterday about the photos I sent him the dentist took when I saw her. He didn't seem that concerned about it and said that it would be very unlikely that it was cancer because I don't have the risk factors for it. We decided that I will have the ENT look at it today to see if it is even still there. If it is he said he would do a scaple biopsy of it but that would entail him shaving down part of the bone at the same time too. Just the thought of that freaks me out so I am praying that it is gone now. I will let you know what happens. I will be back tomorrow with the final day of the challenge. In the meantime I hope you have a great day and the sun shining where you are.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Etsy 10 Day Challenge Day 8

Today I am relisting this card
I originally shared it here on my blog in this post. Yesterday while looking at a blog post in Jemily's 1000 Market shop I found some great information about taking pictures. After applying that information to my camera's settings I went outside this morning to retake the pictures of this card and was really happy with how they turned out. While I was playing around with the camera I was also able to get this great shot of my fur baby Lily too.
I think it looks like she is really smiling what about you? Anyways you can see the full listing for this card here.

The other sellers item that I am sharing with you today is from Cara's ScrapNStampArt's Shop.
This is one of my favorite items from her shop. I especially like the door envelope that goes with it too. She can also customize the card with a specific house number as well. You can see the full listing for this card here. Be sure to check out all the other great items she has in her shop while you are there too.
That's it for now. I never got any stamping time in yesterday either so I am off to try and stamp something new now. I will be back tomorrow with day 9 of the challenge until then I hope you have a great Monday and as always thanks for stopping by.