Pumpkin Carving Time

It is that time a year again and this year RJ requested a Scooby-Doo pumpkin...ummm....Ok. So how do you think I did? I found the stencil online, used the sharp pointy end of a compass and my craft knife to create this. The hat (witch) was supposed to be an outline...but it didn't hold up while I was carving. Thanks for looking. Oh...and Kari just wanted a traditional Jack-o-lantern with triangular eyes. Last year we did a "Wizard of Oz" theme and she had Dorothy on her pumpkin, I had the Cowardly Lion, and my sister had the Tin Man.

Sympathy cards

My two best friends lost a grandparent and another friend lost her mother in the past couple of weeks, so I needed to make 3 sympathy cards...(my thoughts are with you Lisa, Amy, and Raelle!) Yesterday I used the SCS sketch to guide me on 2 of them. Maybe today I will get the third one done. Thanks for looking.

Hey, hey...I survived!

Well my sister's wedding is over and it went so smoothly. I fulfilled my promise of dancing to every single song at the wedding...but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't sore for two days.

Believe

Today's ways to use it challenge on SCS was to use wood. Well, in the garage I found this ugly plaque in an auction box (my dh likes to buy piles of stuff at auctions for $1...he makes a contest of sorts out of it) and I knew that I had to alter it.

I am going to give this plaque to my sister and future bro-in-law tomorrow....It is their wedding...I can't wait!

I used Cool Caribbean cardstock, Certainly Celery cardstock and Paper Salon double sided patterned paper. The ric rac I found last week at an estate sale and I also added buttons. The chipboard letters are some that I've had for awhile now, and I apologize, but I don't remember the brand. Thanks for looking and I really hope the wedding goes well tomorrow. Reception is on Sat., so I have a day to think up my toast! hehehee! Thanks for stopping by!

Wedding Program basket

My sister's wedding is in just 2 days. One job I volunteered for was making the wedding program basket. I found the basket at my cousin's garage sale and she gave it to me for FREE! My mom found and cut the bittersweet and I just kind of weaved the branches in. Thanks for looking.

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors. While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around. Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease. You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows! Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

What kind of monster are you?

I saw this on Allison's blog...and I couldn't resist.

You Are a Witch (or Warlock)

You are deviously brilliant and a perfect manipulator. You somehow always end up getting what you want - without anyone knowing you're working behind the scenes. Crafty and cunning, you can work your way out of any jam. And it's easy for you to get people to do what you want, whether you're working for good or evil. Your greatest power: Mind control Your greatest weakness: Making people your puppets You play well with: Ghosts

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Popcorn Slider

Sorry that I have been neglecting this blog. Last week was a bit crazy covering for another speech therapist's vacation. His nursing homes are an hour away. On Saturday (after work) I helped my dh and mil paint most of the living area in our house. We built this house almost 6 years ago and most of the walls were white...and we finally are getting around to painting. The challenging part for my dh was trying to figure out how he was going to paint two walls that are 36 feet tall. I took this photo from our loft.


I did get a chance to create a little project this morning. Today's Technique Lovers' Challenge is to create a popcorn slider. Here is mine. Stamps are $1 Michael's stamps, Inkadinkadoo (bats/swirls), and "oh-la-la" is from the SU! set, A Little Love. Thanks for looking!

WInner!

As promised, I randomly selected a winner for the little blog candy. The random number generator came up with #13, so Andrea Hays....You are a winner!

Here is her post: The last book I read that I couldn't put down was "Blink". It was very interesting and a quick read. I really need to read more. But reading cuts into craft time...life is rough! *Wink* Thanks for the giveaway! :)
(Andrea...could you send me your e-mail address so I can send out your ribbon? ehybben@gmail.com)
I really never expected 35 comments for blog candy! I want to thank you for leaving your comments and I am going to take my list of "must reads" to our next bookclub.

Tomorrow's the party!

It has been a couple of very busy days around here...getting ready for my sister's bridal shower that I am hostessing. I have stirred up A LOT of dust...let me tell ya!

Today I made a super quick card first thing in the morning. I will give this to my sis for her shower. Hopefully she doesn't check my blog today! This card is for yesterday's Ways to Use it challenge on SCS (twill tape) and today's Limited Supplies challenge (use patterned paper + sentiment). The patterned double-sided cardstock is My Mind's Eye- Wild Asparagus and the cardstock is Cranberry Crisp (2006-2007 in-color). I also used twill tape, stitched grosgrain ribbon, Cuttlebug and die to make the tag, and a spiral clip from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit. Thanks for looking and have a happy Friday!

Party Chicks

Today RJ was up at 4 a.m....geez, that is just too early! We tried to get him to fall back asleep; however, he maybe fell asleep for 30 min. (at the most). So even though I am a bit tired and I should really be cleaning and getting ready for my sister's bridal shower on Sat...I made a card.


That adorable stamp is Penny Black and the "party!" is from the It's a Party SU! set. The background on the So Saffron layer is Paisley.
The colors were inspired by this week's Color and Quote on the Big Picture Scrapbooking website. The layout is this week's sketch challenge on SCS. Thanks for looking!

Happy Day

Thanks to all of you who responded to my question about books you couldn't put down. When I posted I put the deadline out a week, because I thought it would take that long for someone to find my blog candy...LOL!

Today I did not have much time to create. I actually worked at one of the nursing homes and when I walked in...I found out I had a new swallow evalutation to do, so I didn't get in and get out like I usually do. Then I took my kids to the public library because the book, One Thousand Spendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, I requested came in...so I needed to rush and pick that up. Soon I will NOT be able to put it down, so my blogging may slow down a bit...but first I have to survive putting on my sister's bridal shower on Sat. I am expecting around 35 people. Wish me luck!


Ok, enough rambling. Here is a quick card I made tonight for this week's color challenge on SCS. Colors are Blue Bayou, Choc. Chip, and River Rock. I used reverse masking and inking with polyester fiberfill on this card. If you notice a trend in ribbon color...you will be able to predict the 2 spools of ribbon that the blog candy recipient will receive. The main image is a stamp set from The Angel Company (LOVE the price and quality of their stamps!) and the background is done using versamark and the pine bough from Peaceful Wishes and sentiment is from Nice & Narrow(SU!). To make the "snow" I used liquid applique. Thanks for looking!

Bookclub and a little blog candy

Last night was book club and only two of us could make it and I was the only one to finish the book. Our book club read Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry. It is a non-fiction book about the author's experience moving back to his small hometown and his experiences on the fire department.

Will you do something for me? Leave a comment and tell me about a book you read that you just could not put down. I will randomly select a winner for some yummy ribbon I will send out. (I bought WAY too much for my sister's bridal shower invites). Please comment by midnight next Monday, Oct.8th, and I will post the winner on Tues. Oct. 9th. Thanks for your time and have a wonderful Tuesday!

For baby George

I have been up since 5:30 a.m. because I needed to cook up a casserole for a potluck lunch at church. One slight problem...when we got to church the potluck is next week. Rats! It all ended up fine...we went to the in-laws and all feasted on hot dish and watched the Packer vs. Viking game.

I did get a chance to make a quick card. This card is for Amy (rohla on SCS). She makes the greatest cards and I really felt the pressure to make a great one. It is a neat story how I know her. She commented on a card I had in my SCS gallery and noticed she lived in a town near mine in Wisconsin...so I clicked on her profile and noticed she is a speech-language pathologist...same as me. Then I sent her a private message and told her "hi" and come to find out...each week we were at the same story hour at the local library. How fun! Anyways...she had a baby at the beginning of the month and I made this card for her. Supplies: cardstock- Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Bashful Blue, Marigold Morning (retired color), Basic Grey- Oh Baby, Girl; ink- Versamark; stamps- All Year Cheer (SU!); accessories- cuttlebug die and cuttlebug, sewing machine,round corner punch with guide off to make scalloped edge, white Signo gel pen. Hopefully she likes it.

Inspiration Saturday

Well Saturday finally arrived and that means a new Inspiration Challenge is posted on SCS. This week you were to get inspired by a pillow. The colors are a tad bit out of my comfort zone, but it all ended up OK. This will be for my friend's 3-year-old who just turned 3 and is into princesses right now. Supplies: cardstock- Cameo coral, Choc. chip, GP white; ink-Cameo Coral; stamps- Winged Things- SU!; accessories- sewing machine, hodgepodge hardware, grosgrain ribbon, printed tag (My Mind's Eye- Wild Asparagus). Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Tomorrow is a good ol' potluck dinner at church, so I have to get cookin'. Thanks for stopping by.

Creating everyday

I set out to create at least one card each day this week...and I have done it! Yesterday on the Ways To Use it Challenge on SCS...the challenge was to incorporate food. Well, on Oct. 14th my dh and I will be celebrating our 7th anniversary...so this is for him. Supplies: cardstock-Garden Green, Basic Black, Georgia Pacific white; ink- StazOn Jet Black, Basic Black, Garden Green; stamps: Rubber Stampede- peppers, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Sanded...both SU!; accessories: prismacolors and gamsol, computer generated font, yellow Crayola marker to highlight.



Today is the Limited Supply Challenge on SCS and the challenge is to use Halloween stamps in a non-Halloween way. Well...this is for my dear sister...who I have been a little testy with lately. Supplies: cardstock- GP white, Basic Black; ink- StazOn Jet Black, Eggplant envy; stamps- So Very (SU!), $1 Michaels stamp, Autumn Leaves flourishes; accessories- eggplant grosgrain, computer generated font, dimensionals. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

A Child is Born

Here is a card I did for the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge.
Supplies: cardstock- Bordering Blue, Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Georgia Pacific white.
Ink- StazOn Timber Brown, Encore Silver
Stamps- The Angel Company- A Child
Accessories- Prismacolors and gamsol, Cuttlebug, Embossing folder- Tapestry, Organza ribbon, sewing machine, dimensionals
Technique-Gamsol magic, paper piecing (star)

Thanks for looking!

Tutorial on Inking with fiberfill

On Splitcoaststampers there is a thread about using polyester fiberfill to ink, or "sponge" the edges of cardstock. This is the technique that I have used since reading Carol Heppner's book "Inking". When I first started stamping I used cosmetic wedges, but I ended up with lines. Then I moved on to sponges, but felt that too much ink was soaked up and transferred on to the cardstock and I had little control. Then I read the "Inking" book and now used polyester fiberfill.

One thing that I LOVE about using fiberfill is that it is so cheap.


Here is a tutorial I made about how to ink the edges of your cardstock.
Supplies: Classic ink pad, scratch paper, your stamped cardstock you want inked, and a hunk of fiberfill.

1. Dip your fiberfill into the inkpad...being careful not to push down so hard that your fingernail touches the inkpad (you will see that this happened to me and I have a couple of marks on the cardstock as a result).

2. With your stamped image laying on scratch paper, start on the scratch paper and move in a circular motion toward the cardstock. Keep moving in circles on and off the cardstock all the way around the cardstock.

3. Keep applying ink in this fashion until it is dark enough for your liking.

4. Finish off the card.

What's for Supper?

If you are like me...you dread 4:00 p.m. because it means you have to figure out what you're making for supper. I just got to the point where I wished that someone would say, "Erika, make xxxxxx". I would find that so much easier. So, I had this bright idea that I would find a website that would email recipes each day. I found a free service called "Peak of the Market" and the last two nights we have had fabulous, but easy-to-cook dinners. I am a happy camper! Here is the link if you want to check it out...I don't like to keep a good thing in the dark!

http://www.peakmarket.com/v2_subscription.cfm

Have fun~

Bashful Bluebirds

Today my little guy woke up at 4:30 a.m. for the second day in a row...so needless to say, I did have some time to stamp. Today the color challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to use the colors Old Olive, More Mustard, and Bashful Blue. When I read the combination, I was skeptical of how the blue would look...but it turned out that it is a wonderful color combo. For this card I used More Mustard cardstock for the base, stamped the leaves with Old Olive on the Old Olive layer using Best Blossoms, and the patterned paper is from my scrap pile (I don't remember where it came from), and the scallops were done using my corner rounder punch with the guide off. For that I used Bashful Blue and I stamped the Inkadinkado birds with StazOn Jet Black on Georgia Pacific white paper. I just doodled the lines using a fine tip Sharpie and colored the birds using ink on the lid of my More Mustard and Old Olive inkpads and water and a brush. I used prismacolors and gamsol for the blue. The ribbon is from Wild Asparagus and the tag was made with my Cuttlebug and the stamp is from the Noteworthy set. I used wire to adhere the tag to the ribbon. Thanks for looking!