Card Blues: Gift Set and Snowbunnybella

I've grown very dependent on technology over the years. I never had a land-line (just a cell) and I think I go through withdraws if I spend a day without checking email. Well, I had quite a shock this weekend. First, I got locked out of my AIM account because my password was reset and a reminder was sent to an email account from 15 years ago that no longer exists. Ironically, to get any help from AOL you need to log into the account to post a question. Then my cell gave out and I lost all my contacts. I felt so detached from the world... The one good thing that came out of all of this is that I got a new phone - Google's own G1. I'm still a little angry having lost a lot of numbers I'm not sure I'll get back, but the new "toy" is softening the blow. This is the first phone I own with a data plan and now I can get email and browse the web right on my cell! Talk about feeding my technology addiction.

I do take occasional breaks from my PC and since my last post I made a few things I wanted to share. The first is the SnowBunnyBella card for SCS FS98 Challenge last weekend.
The card that inspired me was Christmas Cats by Paula Tracy and I recreated the same sparkling background look with Stickles, but the layout just didn't seem to come together. This is one of those cards when the time it takes to make the card greatly exceeds the outcome. I did, however, have fun with this Bella image, which I got form my DSS sister last year. The “fur” on the coat is flocked. I used flocking for the first time this summer and love it for animal and Bella images. I also want to try it on some alphabet stamps and chipboard. That may be a good tutorial for me to do in the upcoming week - I'll show some flocking basics and then experiment with different materials. Stay tuned.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Snowbunnybella by Stamping Bella, Warm Wards
  
• Paper: Bashful blue, chocolate chip, bashful blue DP
  
• Ink: Chocolate chip, bashful blue, Versamark
  
• Accessories: Stickles, embossing powder, Holiday House plastic winter snowflakes by American Crafts, brads, white flocking
  
• Tools: punch, Priceless embossing template, paper piercer
  

The second thing I wanted to share with you was a card gift set I made for my mom. (Mom, if you're reading then I guess you know what you'll be getting in the mail next week. If you want it to be a surprise don't read any further). I saw blue gift boxes on sale at Borders and couldn't pass them up. When I got home and realized the color matched to the “t” to the Baja Breeze paper, I was thrilled and just had to make this set.

As beautiful as elaborate cards can be, most of the time I still love clean and simple designs the most. They're also easier to make for gift sets. For this set I have two designs, 5 of each card. Both use a white base and one color. I used Cuttlebug swiss dot folder to add depth to the paper. The white card is decorated with paper bow (you can use ribbon too), Prima flower and rhinestone. The blue card is stamped and embossed with thick embossing powder. You can also use Crystal Effects, but in this case I wanted some more randomness and droplet effect so i used the powder and let some of it fly off the image when embossing.

For the top of the box I just cut out same size circles for the top and bottom of the "tag", embossed one side in white EP and carefully glued them back to back with the ribbon in between. Let me know if you're interested in a complete tutorial and I can post one next time.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Oh So Lovely
  
• Paper: Baja breeze, whisper white, Startburst Translucent DP by Paper Company
  
• Ink: Baja breeze, Versmark
  
• Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones, thick clear embossing powder, white embossing power, ribbon
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities
  

~Olgy

Basketball Layout and Banana Muffins

A friend of mine graduated from college last weekend (yep, I'm talking about you Amy). It's hard to imagine it's been 3 years since I got my ECE degree at UIUC. The finals, the stress, the winter. I was really happy when it was over, but now that classes are behind me, I wish I had a reason to go visit more often and do the things that I didn't have time for when I was there such as basketball games, football games, bar hopping, etc. For a while I still had a few friends and contacts in Champaign, but Amy is the last person I knew who still attended the school. Makes me feel a little sentimental... and a little old :)

As a tribute to UIUC, here's a layout I did in October for SCS virtual scrapbooking night.

It's a 12x12 page with a faux leather technique created by embossing paper through Swiss Polka Dot folder. Since the the folder is small, I had to emboss two pieces and glue them together. The stitching was done with thin ribbon. What I love most about this page are the pictures - someone dressed up our Alma Mater in a jersey - brings back fond memories when UIUC went to basketball finals in 2005.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Paper: Pumpkin pie, night of navy, blue/orange dots DP from My Mind's Eye
• Ink: Really rust (for faux leather look)
• Accessories: Making memories tag, night of navy and brown ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder, punches, BasicGery alphabet, die cut, Illinois sticker
• Tools: Cuttlebug embossing folder, scalloped edge punch
  

Now for some cooking experiments. This year I've been getting more and more into making muffins. They're easy to make and what I love most about them is that they freeze really well so I can make a few batches at a time and freeze a portion of them. A few weeks later just pop them back into the fridge for a day or two and then into a microwave or taster oven right before eating.

Last night I tried a new recipe, Quick and Easy Banana-Oat muffins.
I think I made a few mistakes such as putting too much bananas and taking them out a little too soon, but all in all these have some potential, not bad at all for how healthy they are compared to other muffins. The recipe calls for lots of bananas and oats, whole wheat flour and very little sugar and oil. Next time I need to experiment a bit to make them raise more. If you have some muffin recipes you like, let me know, I'm always on the lookout for new ones.

~Olgy

Christmas Fluffles Tree and Card Giveaway

How's your Christmas morning? Did you get new craft goodies? I'd love to hear about them. I have another fun winter card to share with you this morning. It's my entry for SC207 Challenge. I opened a new pack of Baja Breeze and used embossed background paper sent to me by SusieQ4417 from SCS WishRAK.



To thank you for tuning into my new blog, I'll send this RAK to the first person to link my blog from theirs. Email me or leave me a comment with your blog and snail mail address. I'm also going to pick one person at random from everyone who leaves a comment (you don't have to have a blog to leave a comment) on any post on my blog by January 10th. Can't wait to hear from you and happy holidays!

~Olgy

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Fluffles Tree by Stampendous
  
• Paper: baja breeze, whisper white
  
• Ink: basic black, baja breeze, sage shadow, creamy caramel
  
• Accessories: stickles, button, baja breeze ribbon, silver cord
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug embossing folder, snowflake die, scalloped edge punch
  

Merry Christmas!

It's officially Christmas! Usually I would be opening presents right about now, but this year my husband and I are having a nice and quiet holiday at home. No traveling, no visitors - just us, which leaves me time to do some scrapping and update the blog. If you have a blog you probably remember how anxious you were to post when you first set it up. Well, that's exactly how I feel right now, so get ready for some more posts.

In the spirit of the holidays, what would be better than to post my Christmas card from this year. I've been waiting to use this little guy from Merry & Bright set for almost a year.

It's not very elaborate, but you know that when it comes to making large quantities of the same card some things need to get simplified and streamlined. This version of the card is a 4.25x4.25, but I also made the same one in a traditional 4.25x5.5. The punches made layering easy, but I felt like I was going to get carpal tunnel from squeezing the Stickles bottle for hours at a time. The bling is worth the sacrifice though :)

~Olgy

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Merry & Bright
  
• Paper: sage shadow, real red and whisper white.
  
• Ink: Sage shadow, real red, basic black
• Accessories: Stickles, ribbon from Hobby Lobby
  
• Tools: 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, scallop circle punch, scalloped edge punch

My Very First Post

I've been debating for a long time whether I should start a blog because I was concerned that it will take too much time to upkeep. I love the inspiration I get from other amzing blogs and I would love to have a place to unwind and share my creations. I finally took a leap and and here we are ...WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

I chose the name "weekend scrapper" because that's pretty much the only time I have to devote to my hobby:) I plan to post my creations, tutorials and tid-bits about my life. I'm sure I'll be changing things around and adding to the blog in the future, so if you want to see anything else just let me know. I would love to hear from you!

~Olgy