The Weekend Scrapper: Cards, Scrapbooking and Life

Secret Santa Swap

2010-01-01T18:49:00.001-06:00

Jennie organized a really fun Designer Secret Santa Swap this year to make a chipboard album, a card, an ornament and a tag in time for Christmas. I used a lot of Basic Grey papers on my album, tag and ornament and the card was featured in an earlier post .

Here's the same picture showing the back of the ornament. It's the fist time I've ever made one and I was a bit at a loss so kept it simple and decorated the Basic Grey ornament template with rhinestones on one side and cut out some some Christmas DP and rub ons for the other.

My Secret Santa was Novell and I got an absolutely stunning album and gifts from her! Check them out on her blog.

~Olgy

Puppies!

2010-01-01T17:53:00.000-06:00

I know, I haven't posted in ages and here's why... we got these furry kids a few weeks ago and they've taken over our lives. I'm running on just a few hours of sleep a night and the whole day is dedicated to housebreaking, feeding, spending time with them etc but with cute paws and faces like this make it worth it.

This sweet and super energetic girl is Mia. She's a Dane and is growing by the minute. I wanted to get a Dane for a really long time and she's mommy's "little" girl. Soon after we found Mia, Pete found this fluffy teddy bear Dex in a shelter's foster home and our household doubled.

Happy belated holidays!

~Olgy

Bella Birthday Hop

2009-12-05T09:03:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Blog Hop celebrating her 3rd birthday! If you want to start at the beginning, visit Bella's blog today after 9am central. Now on with the party.

We got our first freeze in Austin last night and I can't wait for the winter to end. At least these Bellas are enjoying the sunshine on their birthday.

The Gardenbella is paired with spring colors, flowers and of course some glitter and pearls. What girl can go without them? The sketch is from SCS255 challenge.
Supplies:

Stamps: Gardenbella
Paper: BasicGrey Lilykate, My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie , gruvy guava & chocolate chip by SU
Ink: Momento black, certainly celery by SU, Copics (E53)
Accessories: Prima flowers, pink pearls, Stickles, clear button, twine, yellow SU ribbon, green Basic Grey ribbon

The Beachbella is doing even better on the sun and dressed up in the yellow paper pierced bikini and towel. The sketch is from SC254 challenge. I was singing the Yellow Polka Dot Bikini song as I was making this card, so I printed the lyrics on the inside.

Supplies:

Stamps: Beachbella
Paper: Bordering from SU, DP from BasicGrey Offbeat collection and Plum Daisy from Chatterbox
Ink: Momento black, Bordering blue, Copics (E53, Y21)
Accessories: Metal Tag and clips, Prima flower, button, rhinestones
Tools: Cuttlebug, punches

Thanks for stopping by my blog and your next stop on the hop is Margie's Blog or you can find the master thread of participants here.

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Monday

2009-11-30T23:11:00.000-06:00

A quick CAS redo today. No layers, no ribbon - just a simple white card. A good way to start a Monday.

The line creses were made with a score blade on regular cutter because I don't have a ScorePal. The flower is colored with Copics and glazed with Glossy Acrylics. Thanks for stopping by.

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

Stamps: Oh So Lovely
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Momento Black, Copics (BG10, B23)
Accessories: Pretties Kit, Glossy Accents

~Olgy

Poppy Fields Hedgehog Card

2009-11-29T14:48:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is over, winter is just around the corner and it's gloomy outside right now. To momentarily forget this weather and step back into summer I chose to CASE this card from MrsBoz for todays SCS Featured Stamper challenge.

I already had this adorable hedgehog Wish RAK image colored begging to be used on the next card, so I had to oblige. Besides, I needed to take a break from Christmas cards. I added some brads, acrylic on the poppies and Stickles on the butterflies. I kept the overall layout and color scheme the same, but added splashes of yellow and ribbon tabs. Doesn't this card just scream summer?

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

Stamps: Poppy Fields by Penny Black
Paper: Basic grey, real red, certainly celery, whisper white
Ink: Real red, certainly celery, summer sun, Copics (C5, E00, blender)
Accessories: Brads, RibbonFX, ribbon from Michaels, Prima flowers, Glossy Accents, Stickles
Tools: Cuttlebug

~Olgy

Christmas Cards

2009-11-29T14:07:00.001-06:00

In the past years I came up with Christmas card design and then made the same set for that year. It streamlined the process and I didn't have to think who gets which card. This year, however, I just couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted and continued to make cards until I had about a dozen different ones. I finally gave up on the idea of a single design. I just hope that everyone likes the card they end up with. Here's a sneak peak.

This first one is a cute penguin by Whipper Snapper. The layout was for a clean and simple SCS challenge, so it's pretty basic, but I flocked and added glitter to the little guy for some dimension. Both the tan (ok, I know penguins aren't tan, but he was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of color coordination) and white parts are covered in fun flock which I had to apply it in two steps. If you want to know more about using flocking see my earlier Fun Flock Tutorial post.

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

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Ice Cream Penguin
Paper: Very vanilla, My Minds Eye DP
Ink: Momento Black, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, certainly celery, real red, rose royal, pumpkin pie
Accessories: RibbonFx, Fun Flock, Stickles

Next is a quick poinsettia card using Basic Grey paper. I just added some chunky glitter for a frosted effect and ribbon with sentiment. Each card is just a little different since it was cut from a 12x12 sheet.

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

Stamps: Cute and Curly
Paper: Whisper white, Basic Grey Dasher DP collection
Ink: Cranberry crisp
Accessories: Ribbon, chunky glitter

For these next few cards I was trying to use up my Vintage Violet paper stash, which was one of the first "in colors" offered by Stampin'Up!. The first few are the fun Christmas tree Fluffles images and the last is a more traditional design. It didn't show up on the picture at all, but in person the card looks a lot prettier because there's glitter mixed in with the white embossing powder, so the card sparkles.

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

Stamps: Fluffles Tree by Stampendeous, Best Yet, Snowflake spot, Cute and Curly
Paper: Vintage violet, whisper white
Ink: Vintage violet, Versamark, sage shadow
Accessories: Silver Stickles, Diamonds EP
Tools: Cuttlebug, punches

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Embossed Cards

2009-11-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

I'm having family in town this week for Thanksgiving, which is great, but there won't be much stamping and blogging for the next few days.

I did make a few quick CAS cards yesterday. I'm really happy with this Thank you card and it's fitting for the holidays this week. It was inspired by this Autumn Whimsey painting from art.com I embossed the image on Chocolate Chip cardstock, framed it by drawing a border around it and adding sentiment and finished it with a few pearls. I should have tried matting the pearls on darker circles, but I still like how it turned out.

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

Stamps: Agapanthus cluster by Stampendous
Paper: Whisper white, chocolate chip
Ink:Versamark and white EP
Accessories: Pearls from the Pretties Kit

The second card is for this week's sponging CAS challenge. I sponged a red circle by cutting out a template on a separate piece of card stock, embossed and cut out a butterfly to pop it up over the circle, framed it like I did with the previous card, but instead of pearls I added buttons.

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

Stamps: Happy Harmony, God's Beauty
Paper: Whisper white
Ink: Really red, Versamark and black EP
Accessories: Buttons
Tools:

Thanks for stopping by and happy holidays.
~Olgy

Asian Inspired

2009-11-22T17:18:00.000-06:00

I love cherry blossoms. I'm drawn to pictures, paper, stamps and anything else with their image. Even the header on my blog has cherry blossoms. Today's SCS featured stamper Birgit had so many gorgeous cards, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of this cherry blossoms one. My card plays off the branch and flower design, but I used a different frame, layered DP and vellum for subtle background design and used leaf branches with Prima flowers. The sentiment is stamped on Far East paper and the edges and flowers sponged for extra dimension.

I couldn't pass up CASing a cherry blossom card without adding some cherry blossoms of on my own, so I decorated the inside of the card with the Artfully Asian stamp and Far East DP.

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

Stamps: Wonderful words, Artfully Asian
Paper: Pretty in pink, chocolate chip, vellum, Far East DP by Die Cuts With a View
Ink: Chocolate chip
Accessories: Prima flowers, ribbon, silver chord, Pretties kit
Tools: Little Leaves Sizzlits, Bigz Top Note die, Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy

Sweet Grey Fluffles and CAS Cards

2009-11-17T22:00:00.001-06:00

The Thanksgiving week is almost here and there's still lots to do, so I'll keep this post short and sweet. First of all, Melissa, I pulled your name out of the hat for the 2nd card and a few other goodies, so email me your snail mail address. Robbie, send me your address too and I'll mail you one of the remaining cards.

Now, on to my latest favorite - sweet Fluffles with a bouquet of flowers. I can't resist adding rhinestones to the flower centers every time I use this stamp.

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

Stamps: Grasshopper Fluffles by Stampendeous, So Very
Paper: Basic grey, pretty in pink, whisper white, Around the Block DP
Ink: Basic black, always apricot, certainly celery, pretty in pink, almost amethyst, Copics (C5, C7)
Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones, metal frame by Spare Parts, basic grey taffeta ribbon
Tools: Martha Stewart border punches

I made my CAS41 card a day late, but here it is anyway. I used the colors from this purse (except in Imperial Toile color) for the inspiration piece. The card is 5 1/2 x5 1/2 in with just a layer of DP over the base, ribbon and a flower. The hardest part was lining up the corners when I was using the border punch, but I was done in about 7 minutes flat.

Supplies :

Paper: Very vanilla by Stampin'Up!, Uptown Layered circles by Paper Studio
Ink: Pixie pink
Accessories: Heidi Swapp flower
Tools: Martha Stewart border punch

Thanks for stopping by.

~Olgy

CAS Winter Design

2009-11-15T23:36:00.000-06:00

I have a few more CAS cards for you that I made for the winter design challenge. Both take just 5 minutes and even though the lighting on my photos wasn't great, they look cute in hand. The first one is an engagement card based on the fantastic grid sketch from Susan, who has a very inspiring blog called Simplicity, dedicated to clean and simple cards. I had few ideas for this card, but finally settled on using Prima flowers instead of stamped images. To make the flowers stand out more against grey background, I set them on punched out 1" white circles. In the center of each flower is a small rhinestone. The sentiment is embossed with white diamonds EP. Corners are rounded for a softer look.

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

Stamps: Wonderful words
Paper: Basic grey, whisper white
Ink: Versamark and white diamond EP
Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones
Tools: 1" circle punch

This one is my winter wonderland card. It's a no layers card unless you count a thin strip of wrapping paper on the inside of the card that shows through under the punched border. The snowflakes are glittery rub-ons I had from last year and my new favorite ribbon with shimmering white on one side and shimmering brown on the other.

Supplies:

Stamps: None
Paper: Light blue Bazzil, wrapping paper from SU!
Accessories: Me & My Big Ideas snowflake glitter rub-ons, ribbonFX
Tools: Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy

FS145 Challenge

2009-11-15T17:04:00.000-06:00

Today is Sunday, which means a featured stamper challenge on SCS. My first card is based on this pretty card from TreasureOiler.

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

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Very vanilla, chocolate chip, certainly celery, Saffron from SEI Dill Blossom collection
Ink: Really rust, certainly celery
Accessories: Buttons, Offray ribbon
Tools: Oval punches, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

The second card is based on this one. I just lover her original so I played around with different colors and modifications to the sketch.

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

Stamps: Cupcakeabella by Stampingbella
Paper: Cameo coral, blush blossom, Tender Love and Care from EK Success wedding collection
Ink: Basic black, so saffron, Copics (E00, E49, E57, R22, R20, R29)
Accessories: Jumbo eyelets, Stickles, Glossy Accents, rhinestone, ribbon
Tools: Punch, Crop-a-dile

~Olgy

Vampire Girl Color Challenge

2009-11-14T17:08:00.000-06:00

As promised, here's a layout for Candy Shoppe Designs Team Edward vs Team Jacob Challenge. I chose to be the vampire girl so my layout had to be full red, black and BLING! Well, I can't pass up on an excuse to use glitter, rhinestones and anything else that sparkles...

The theme of my page is actually not related to Halloween, but is titled "Miss Personality" and is a page about me. This is a copy of an old photo of me as a baby and my mom. I really wanted to add some lace to soften the dramatic red and black background, but since I didn't have any I just used border punches to recreate the same effect. For the layered flower embellishment I colored one of the white flowers red and then stamped over it with black, once it dried I covered it with Stickles. I also added a decorative pin, sheer leaves that Laura sent me last month and swirl chipboard. The journaling is printed on vellum, distressed with red ink, stamped with silver swirl and topped with rhinestones. I also used a glittery letter for my title and shimmery ribbons. Maybe I went overboard with the bling, but I think the layout still has an elegant look and I had a lot of fun with this challenge.

Don't forget that you have until tomorrow to leave a comment on CAS card post, I'll choosing one comment at random to send a surprise.

Supplies:

Stamps: Nightingale's Song Alphabet from Inkque Boutique, Heidi Grace swirl stamp
Paper: Recognition from Basic Grey Scrlet's Letter collection, vellum, white
Ink: Versamark and white diamonds EP, silver, real red from Stampin'Up! and black
Accessories: Pretties Kit from Stampin'Up!, rhinestones, Primas, K&Company Twinkle Type Chipboard, Heidi Swapp Silhouette words, sheer leaves, ribbonFX, striped ribbon from Michael's, Stickles
Tools:Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy

Pencillines Sketch Layout

2009-11-14T13:00:00.000-06:00

I'm so happy the weekend is finally here. I had a couple of more projects that I finished up during the week (it's amazing how much more I can get done when I stop watching TV), but just didn't have time to photograph and post earlier.

The first layout is based on the Pencillines sketch 160 and Kathie Link's fun and colorful page. This is actually the first layout about our new home since I was so preoccupied with the move the first few months that I didn't have time to scrap. The page is titled "Joys of Owning a House," but I have to admit that there's some sarcasm in that title too. Before we can start enjoying the place, there was and still is a LOT of work to be done. To symbolize that, I journaled on the leaves of the tree - the hanging leaves are the things we were looking forward to and the leaves on the ground are the irritating things we have to put up with in the process. The tree is drawn freehand and the leaves are stamped and cut out from various scraps. On this picture my husband is cutting tile for our kitchen and let me tell you, I'm so glad that project is long behind us.

Supplies:

Stamps: Leaves from God's Beauty set by Stampin'Up!
Paper: Bluebird light blue DP by My Mind's Eye, Repose from Basic Grey's Scarlet's Letter collection and Mellow collection, brown, SU scraps for leaves
Ink:Brown
Accessories: twine, K&Company Amy Butler chipboard alphabet, Maya Road chipboard flowers, buttons, dreams pin, SEI tag, sandpaper

~Olgy

Changing Leaves

2009-11-12T22:54:00.002-06:00

Most of the trees in our neighborhood are live oaks which are green year round, but our neighbors across the street have a red oak in their front yard and it tuned a pretty golden red. As I was looking for an inspirational piece for a CAS design challenge, I wanted to do something with leaves. Here's my card based on this olive branch decoration. I was going to have 3 die cuts on the card, but when I saw the negative space, I thought it would look better if I used it instead to frame the design.

I had fun with the overlapping die cut leaves and made another card with the same theme, but with more layers.

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

Stamps: Wonderful Words, Sincere Salutations, Stems and Silhouettes wheel
Paper: Whisper white, crisp cranberry, old olive, really rust
Ink: Cranberry crisp
Accessories: RibbonFX
Tools: Little leaves sizzlits

~Olgy

Pupmpkin Patch

2009-11-12T00:31:00.000-06:00

Halloween came and went, but it still doesn't feel like fall in Texas. Not that I terribly mind because I like warm weather, but November really sneaked up on me and is half way over. While I'm working on other projects, it feels like an appropriate time to post a fall page or in a blink of an eye it will be Christmas.

Supplies:

Paper: Cranberry crisp by Stampin'Up!, Candy Corn and Orchard DP by American Crafts
Accessories: Art Accentsz beads by Provo Craft, punch, ribbon from Hobby Lobby

I actually made this page last year for SCS VSBN, but there's nothing that says fall more than a pumpkin patch and falling leaves. The leaves on the layout are cut out from DP and have beads are sawn on top for extra dimension and interest. Smiling neice and nephews complete the page.

~Olgy

The Big Ego Challenge Layout

2009-11-10T23:21:00.000-06:00

My creativity goes out of the window when I'm sick, so all my grand plans for Candy Shoppe Design's challenge didn't translate on paper in the same way I imagined. The requirement was to make a paper creation about myself using icons. You can find more info HERE. When i started cutting out pictures from magazines and printing icons, it took me back to my HS years when I kept all kinds of collage journals with random picture cutouts just because I liked how they looked. So for the old time's sake I tried to use as few "scrapbooking" supplies as possible. Instead of journaling, I made up a crossword puzzle about me and things I like to complement the random icons. The pen is part of the layout to create "in progress" feel.

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

Stamps:Big Deal Alphabet
Paper: Basic black and Frances Meyer DP
Ink: Basic grey, Acrylic paint from Jo-ann's in Grasshopper color
Accessories: printed icons and magazine cutouts, traced Sticky Cuts Letters, Heidi Swapp punctuation sign, acrylic bubble
Tools: Punches

~Olgy

Blog Candy From Jacque

2009-11-09T22:23:00.000-06:00

Check out this awesome blog candy on JACQUE'S JOIE DE VIVRE blog! Her creations are beautiful.

~Olgy

Playing Dressup - A Simple White Card Makeover and a Giveaway

2009-11-09T20:05:00.002-06:00

I wasn't feeling well today and worked from home. Before getting some shut eye, I had to peek at today's SCS CAS challenge and couldn't resist playing. I love how quickly these cards come together! For today's challenge we could use white and only one other color (and yes, black counted as color). I needed to brighten my mood so I reached for happy, sunny yo-yo yellow. After the first unsuccessful attempt with punches, I ended up with this clean and simple card.

I dont know if it was the yo yo yellow or being in my craft room, but it succeeded in lifting my spirits. I liked the look of the card as is, but I thought to myself that this may also look nice embossed... Fastforward half an hour and here are embossed, beaded, glittered and flocked cards. I know, I just couldn't resist...

The beads have an interesting look, but I think blue embossing and flocking are my favorite out of the bunch. Which one is yours? I'll mail the card of your choice to the first person to leave a comment (don't forget to email me your address) and by Nov 15 I'll choose another person at random to get another surprise.

If you're wondering which card is made with wich product and how to get that look - read on:

Classic Stampin'Up! ink pad in Yoyo yellow. To get this look: Just stamp!
Zing Embossing Powder in powder color. To get this look: Stamp image with Versamark, cover with EP, heat until it melts.
Martha Stewart brownstone glitter. To get this look: apply heat & stick powder (I got mine from Stampin'Up! but other companies likely carry it too) and once it's melted quickly sprinkle with glitter. You can also buy EP with glitter in it (see #5) or trace the image with gluepen and then apply glitter.
Martha Stewart tourmaline glass microbeads. To get this look: apply adhesive to the image (I traced it with Glossy Accents) and apply beads. Let the adhesive dry.
CopperKate Rose Gold EP (it's already mixed with glitter). To get this look: See #2
Fun Flock by Stempendous in chili pepper red. To get this look: See Fun Flock Tutorial and Tips post.

I'm also working on a Big Ego layout for Candy Shoppe Designs challenge, so stay tuned for that in the next few days.

~Olgy

Featured Stamper and Sketch Challenges

2009-11-08T17:11:00.001-06:00

Despite going to bed at 3am last night I woke up at 8:30 and couldn't fall asleep. I figured I might as well make use of the time and create a few cards for SCS challenges and get more inspiration for Christmas cards.

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

Stamps: Snowbunnybella by Stamping Bella, The Snowflake Spot
Paper: Cranberry crisp, Pointsetta by Basic Grey, white
Ink: Ruby red, creamy caramel, Versamark
Accessories: Pom-poms
Tools: Scalloped and snowflake punches

I still had two Snowbunnybella images that I got from my first DSS sister. I've been trying to save them, but since winter is right around the corner, it felt it was an appropriate time to let go and use them. I did run into a little mishap when stitching the card; I accidentally started stitching through the back layer... that's what happens when I don't get enough sleep. At first I was thinking of staring from scratch, but I was able to re-stitch the first portion and put snowflake "tabs" around the inside and the back of the card (matching the front) to hide the holes. The cardstock is retired SU! in color Cranberry Crisp. Since there's no matching marker for this cardstock, I colored the coat with Ruby Red and went over it with creamy caramel, which produced a close match. It's a little hard to see from the photo, but the snowflakes and the fur on Bella's coat are embossed with white sparkling EP. I wasn't sure if glue alone would hold the pom-poms (snowballs), so I stitched them to the border of the card for a stronger hold.

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

Stamps: Oh So Lovely, Little Shapes
Paper:Whispre white, vintage violet, acetate
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: Liquid applique, Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon
Tools: Cuttlebug embossing folder

I managed to stay on track with the holiday theme on the first card, but it didn't last long. For the featured stamper challenge I picked these cards from Chrisations.ink! (first and second) as base for the design. I bought the Little Shapes set a long time ago specifically for background effects, but haven't used the in ages until today. I love rediscovering supplies I forgot I had. The card is pretty simple except the flower image is stamped on acetate and held in place with the metal embelishments. The frost on the flowers is done with liquid applique.

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

Stamps: Spring Solitude, Lots of Thoughts
Paper: Kraft, Basic Grey Lilykate collection, certainly celery, cool carribian
Ink:Close to cocoa, certainly celery
Tools: Punches, sewing machine

The last card is really quick and simple. The liked the earthy/green feel of the original but changed around some elements.
~Olgy

Lots and Lots of Cards

2009-11-07T20:45:00.002-06:00

I'm supposed to be making Christmas cards right now, but I went through many 'prototypes' and can't find a perfect design. Some seem to be missing something, others would take too much time to mass produce. After card #12 I gave up and decided to take a break from Christmas cards and try something else. I got a few cards I was happy with, but I'm still searching for my Christmas card design.

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

Stamps: Lady Bug Fluffles
Paper: Basic black, certainly celary, read red DP
Ink: Basic black, certainly celery, real red, creamy caramel (crayon)
Accessories: Glossy accents, Stickles, metal tag by American Crafts, ribbonFX
Tools: circle punch (to cut out corners)

This little Lady Bug Fluffles is for a SCS Featured Stamper challenge a few weeks ago. This card was inspired by Rachelhope13's card. I love polka dot paper! To me it's like the little black dress of designer papers - it coordinates well with any stamp. To make the lady bugs pop, I added Glossy Accents on the top and love how it tuned out! Ranger makes a few different kinds of this stuff. I used glossy, but they also have matte. It looks frosted coming out of the bottle, but it dries clear like acrylic and is great on stamped images as well as for making your own embalishments.

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

Stamps: A Gift For You Hedgehog by Penny Black
Paper: True thyme, yoyo yellow, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Basic black, summer sun, really rust, Copics (C-5, C-7, R20, R22)
Accessories: RibbonFX, Making Memories eyelets, Glossy accents, glitter
Tools: Crop-a-Dile, scallped edge punch

This card as well as Riley were both made with some WRAK images. I had scraps of patterned paper I wanted to use up and these came together pretty quickly. On the hedgehog card I once again used Glossy Accents and sprinkled it with glitter before it dried. For the pleated ribbon effect I sewed though the middle of the ribbon and pulled the string to create the ruffles and then adhered it to paper them with the snail adhesive.

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

Stamps: Sick Riley by Hannah Stamps
Paper: Marigold morning, sage shadow, K&Company DP (Brown, Pink and Green Polk Dots Flat Paper)
Ink:Chocolate chip, close to cocoa, creamy caramel, sage shadow, almost apricot
Accessories: Chocolate chip and sage ribbons, almost apricot button, twine
Tools: Nestabilities

Riley was a quick card all around except that I didn't have the right color Copics and shaded the image with Stampin'Up! markers. It turned out alright, but the outline on Riley is more prominent than I would have wanted.

Finally, here's another birthday card I got in the mail few days ago. This one is from my 9 year old niece, Hanka. I love that someone else in our family has the paper crafting bug too. And Hanka, if you're reading this, thank you so much for the card, it looks great!

~Olgy

Birthday Mail and More Cards

2009-11-02T22:32:00.000-06:00

I love birthdays and my own in particular :) It's my favorite 'holiday' and it's right before Halloween so there's almost always something to do and an excuse to dress up and look goofy. This year I dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and even convinced my DH to go along with the theme so I'll have to scrap the pictures soon. Another fun part about birthdays is happy mail - I got 3 handmade birthday cards last week and two more today, which I still need to take pictures of. Thanks to everyone for thinking of me! As my friend, Anna, put it, I'm now in the world of closer to 30 than 20. I haven't made up my mind yet on whether it's a good thing or not, but I'm sure 30 will be here before I know it.

I made some cards too for the Featured Stamper challenges on SCS and although they were a lot of fun I should have started on the Christmas cards instead. I don't even have my design yet and it's already November! Instead, I'm still making summer cards, I guess it's wishful thinking. Here's one with the Bee wishrak image. I stitched the frame and added some Crystal Effects to the image for an added pop.

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

Stamps: Bees by Stampendous, Best Yet by Stampin'Up!
Paper: Basic black and whisper white by SU, American Crafts DP
Ink: Basic black, soft sky, real red, summer sun by SU
Accessories: Buttons, stitched ribbon from Hobby Lobby, Making Memories eyelet, Crystal Effects
Tools: Punch, sewing machine

The next one is for my mom who's been requesting dog cards. It's another wish rak image. Since I had my sewing machine out I stitched border, ran the background through Cuttlebug and cut out the image with Sizzix Top Note die. Inside the card I stamped the adorable sentiment, "There is nothing better than to end a bad day covered in dog slobber." This is my new stamp from American Art Stamp company that I picked up in Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and have been dying to use.

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

Stamps: Dogwalkabella by StampingBella, Dog Slobber by American Art Stamp
Paper: Brown, ruby red, whisper white
Ink: Ruby red, close to cocoa, really rust, creamy caramel
Accessories: Prima flowers, bling
Tools: Sizzix Bigz Top Note, Cuttlebug,sewing machine

~Olgy

Candy Shoppe Sweet 16 Blog Hop Challenge

2009-09-19T01:14:00.000-05:00

Candy Shoppe blog is hosting a super fun blog hop challenge in honor of their birthday. There are 10 blogs with instructions on each one and in the end you end up with a unique layout. Plus, the participants have a chance to win a sweet kit from Studio Calico, more details on Candy Shoppe Blog. I had a blast playing!!! Thanks, gals, for setting this up.

Here's a summary of the steps:

1) Choose a unique background. I was walking around my room looking for what would work when I came across this 12x12 cork I had leftover from a self made bullatain board. It was just the right size too so I couldn't pass it up. The only downside is that it won't fit into a page protector, but it was definitely unique compared to my traditional backgrounds.
2) Add an paper with an edge.
3) Add patterned paper on top.
4) Choose a closeup photo. I didn't have many options here because I was running low on photos and this one was a few of the closeups.
5) Do something to the side of the photo. I punched mine.
6) Layer the photo over the DP.
7) Add ribbon. On my page I have a ribbon seperating the two DPs and twine wrapped aroudn the lower part of the page.
8) Put at least 3 flowers into a corner of the photo. Did that.
9) Add at least 3 other kinds of embelishments. I added a paper tag that said "Smile", a fabric tag that says "Live with passion", a chipboard bracket and cut out branches from the remainder of my DP to tie in the earthy feel.
10)Add a title. My title was "Outside the Box" because this whole layout was kind of unusual for me, the layout was about me and in some aspects my life is kind of unique and finally because the page was about nothing in particular and I needed a generic title (there, I gave it away). The word "outside" is put together using Heidi Swapp clear alphabet where I outlined the edges with chocolate ink to make it more visible. The word "box" was a self made embelishment of a sort. I took some pop caps, smashed them, added DP with alphabet stickers and then covered the whole thing with Crystal Effects. I had to let it dry overnight but now it's hard and shiny.

Hmm, since this doesn't fit into my album now i need to find a place on the wall to put this up. It's finally Friday, I'm so happy the weekend is here. Hope yours is a good one.

Supplies :

Paper: Cork board, SIE Tarragon from Dill Blossom collection, Colorbok DP form a chipboard set
Ink: Chocolate chip, Sharpie
Accessories: Ribbon, twine, Heidi Swapp chipboard, tag and clear alphabet, Prima flowers, Stampin'Up! pearls, fabric tag ( I think it's from Around the Block), pop caps, Around the Block alphabet , Crystal Effects
Tools: Stampin'Up! punch

~Olga

Rain

2009-09-16T00:22:00.000-05:00

After 2 months of 100+ degree weather and drought, it started raining in Austin last weekend. It's been raining for several days, which is great for my lawn, but I'm already missing the sunshine. It was a lazy, gloomy Saturday morning this weekend so I made pancakes, I think for the 2nd time in my life (I'm not kidding), but they turned out delicious. I just had to take a picture.

Then, somewhere between painting my fireplace wall and cleaning up the guest room I would sneak back to my craft room (ahhh, did I mention how much I love my new craft room?) to work on a few pages. This one is my latest favorites.

The picture is of my parents' dog, Alice. She loves the outdoors (especially in the winter) and always gives the same questioning head tilt asking "You want me to go back inside? Are you sure? I'd much rather sit here instead," when called to come back indoors. The layout is 12x12 based on this adorable Pencillines sketch . I used primarily Basic Grey papers, stitched the sides and under the title, layered, sponged the edges of the papr, added beads (icicles), ribbon and twill, layered some more, stamped in irodescent ice on the title and snowflakes and cut the smaller part of the title on my Wishblade.

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

Stamps: Snow Flurries
Paper: Figgy Pudding and Dasher collection by BasicGrey
Ink: Chocolate chip, soft sky, Versamark, iridescent ice embossing powder
Accessories: Beads from Pretties Kit, plastic winter Holidayhouse and Metalgrams by American Crafts, Heidi Swapp alphabet, ribbon, twill
Tools: Sewing machine, Cuttlebug

The second layout was from last week for a submission to Back Porch Memories. I was hanging a copy of the "Apparition of the Face of Aphrodite" painting by Dali in the library and the colors and papers I chose were loosely based on the painting with a somewhat modern, contemporary feel.

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

Stamps: Note It by Inque Boutique
Paper: Pinot Noir, Merlot from Periphery collection and Recess from Basic Grey, yellow Bazzil
Ink: Basic black, bordering blue, chocolate chip
Accessories: making memories eyelets, chocolate chip ribbon, Prima flowers, swirl clip from Hodgepodge Hardware, stickers by Kelly Paracci

No cards for today because the pages took most of the time, but stay tuned later in the week.

~Olgy

Catching Up on Scrapbooking

2009-09-12T00:56:00.001-05:00

Now that we're at least somewhat moved into the new house, I've had more time to scrapbook again. I've been on a roll since Sunday managing a layout a day! Now updating my blog with the pictures, that's another story...

The first picture is of my DH and I at a restaurant last year right after I finished my first tri (that's why my face is so sun-burned). For the title/main embellishment i was playing around with the cracked glass technique and it turned out pretty well. For this technique all you need to do is cover the image with Versamark, generously sprinkle on thick clear embossing powder, heat with the heat gun (just like for regular embossing) and when the powder melts and dries hard then bend the image to crack the top layer. I used the negative part of the cutout of DP as a frame around my journaling and added other embelishments such as vellum and metal tags. For the ribbon stitching at the bottom of the page, I first punched out the holes with small circle punch and finished it off with a bow and a brad from "make-a-brad" kit from Stampin'Up! where I used the same coordinating DP.

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

Stamps: Pretty Amazing, Fabulous Flowers
Paper: Blue bayou, vellum, Cherished Flowers by My Mind's Eye
Ink:Basic black, blue bayou, old paper distress ink, Versamark and embossing powder
Accessories: Heidi Swapp ribbon, Puzzle words by Karen Foster, tag by Making Memories, rub-on, make-a-brad
Tools: Topz Notes die, punch

For the next page, I followed a Candy Shoppe blog first design challenge, striptease-101. The challenge was to create a layout with paper strip elements using cream, pink, yellow, blue and purple and as a bonus to use a sketch. I liked the sketch and followed all of the above. My strip of paper also had color stripes on it, so it served double duty.

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

Stamps: Journaling stamp by Katie Pertier
Paper: SEI beige from Dill Blossom collection, striped paper from American Crafts, Baja Breeze
Ink: Basic black
Accessories: Heidi Swapp flower, purple flower (can't recall manufacturer), Kology chipboard by K&Company, pearls, ribbon and rub-ons by Basic Grey

~Olgy

Show Me Some Bling

2009-09-08T18:15:00.000-05:00

I'm not a pink and hearts type of girl, but when I saw SEI Chocolat collection last year I couldn't resist. I brought it home and made a few cards right away. They were so quick because the paper was beautiful all on it's own. I made a few variations with different embelishments around the ribbon as well as the sentiment.

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

Stamps: It's about time
Paper: eclair and cherie by SEI
Ink: Versamark and white embossing powder
Accessories: Butterfly embellishment from SEI chocolat collection

Fast forward to now, I found the stack still almost full sitting in my DP stash. It was time to make some layouts. I've been digging through some really old photos lately, uploading a few of them on Facebook for my friends to see and the High School memories started flooding in. Well, what's a better occasion to use some glittery, pink paper than a HS dance?

I used the nougat DP for my base and cut out some flourishes and hearts from mon coeur. For the title, I only had "R" and "O" in the stash, luckily, these metal letters were easy to bend so I broke off a piece to make the "P" and "M" from two "N"s. The flourishes and the picture are poped up with foam squares for extra layers.

Supplies:

Stamps: Doodle Script Alphabet by Inque boutique
Paper: nougat and mon coeur by SEI, Tender love and care by EK Success
Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones, Metalgrams by American crafts, glitter die cuts by SEI, metal accent (not arts related)

While at it, I also made a few quick cards for the CAS bling challenge. For these I used the eclair shimmery paper, matted it with black to contrast my background and embossed the sentiment in silver. Below are the two variations with Primas and pearls.

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

Stamps: Heidi Grace
Paper: eclair by SIE, basic black, white Bazzil
Ink: versamark and silver EP
Accessories: Prima flowers, pearls, brads

~Olgy

A Card Theif?

2009-09-07T22:34:00.001-05:00

Since it was a three day weekend I've been stamping my little heart out. I distinctly remember making 4 cards for CAS challenges and leaving them on my desk ready to be photographed this morning except today one of them went mysteriously missing. I checked the floor, looked through my scraps, through my trash (twice), cleaned up my entire desk and nearly turned my entire craft room upside down looking for this card, but no success. I know I made it, I even have evidence on my scratch paper and scraps, but the card vanished. I'm staring to think that someone sneaked into the house just to steal this one card.... That just seems like the only logical explanation :) Oh well, I guess I'll only post the others until I catch the "thief".

The first card is for inspiration challenge and I used this Anthropologie shoe for my vision. I knew what I wanted to do, but struggled a bit getting it on paper because I didn't have wide red ribbon for the center of the card (aha, another excuse to go shopping). The background is stamped with twill to look like tweed on the pumps. I settled for a thinner, darker ribbon with the same bow. The flowers were stamped in black, but to give the image a little more dimension, I traced it with the white pen. Here's my CAS (clean and simple) Seeing Red card.

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

Stamps: Happy Harmony, Warm Words, Twill background
Paper: Ruby red
Ink:Basic black, white gel pen, Versamark
Accessories: Ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

This next card was for a CAS masculine card challenge. I have to be honest, I'm not very good at making masculine cards, primarily because I don't have many stamps or papers that suit this genre. Luckily, my new Eiffel Tower stamp didn't have flowers or birds or swirls or anything of that kind on it, so it fit the bill. Plus, I can't help but reach for the new toys first. Now for the second part the challenge, the card had to be clean and simple which meant I couldn't layer on the embellishments. Instead, I found this retired Stampin'Up! Lexicon of Love set, which I haven't used in years, stamped it on the background, cut out the Eiffel Tower and popped it up with 3D dots (sorry if it's hard to see that from the photo) and sponged the edges. All in all it took longer to find the stamps then to make the card.

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

Stamps: Eiffel Tower by Stampabilities, Lexicon of Love
Paper: Always artichoke, very vanilla
Ink: Going grey, always artichoke
Accessories: Dimentionals

~Olgy

Labor Day

2009-09-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Labor Day weekend! I've got some house projects planned, but in between I'm taking advantage of extra time off and am catching up on stamping. It was very unlike me, but I woke up early this morning and had a chance to participate in the Featured Stamper SCS Challenge before going back to tiling the fireplace. I needed a baby card, so this is the first one I did, however, since tomorrow is a day off I'm hoping to fit in a few more cards before the weekend is gone.

For this card I used some leftover polka dot paper from SU stack. I seem to always reach for this retired Bundle of Joy set for the baby cards. I stameped the bear in pink, filled in the inside with glue being careful not to over the eyes and nose and covered with glitter. Unfortunately, the pink image blended in with the pink glitter a little too much, so I went back and traced it with creamy caramel. Some ribbon and buttons to complete the card so now I'm off to do more tiling.

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

Stamps: Bundle of Joy, Warm Words
Paper: Whisper white, DP stack, non-SU textured paper
Ink: Pretty in pink, creamy caramel
Accessories: Ribbon (Hobby Lobby), buttons, Fairy Dust glitter
Tools: Nestabilities, SU scalloped border punch

~Olgy

Modern Vintage - Tips For Scrabooking Old Photos

2009-09-05T12:39:00.001-05:00

For a long time I didn't know how to approach scrapping heirloom photos because they look more natural in a vintage type layout, but I have a more contemporary, ad-hoc style pages. It wasn't until last year when I was required to create a vintage layout for a few challenges that I actually gave it a try. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I imagined. I was still using my "improv" style but with a few little shortcuts the layouts took on an old-fashioned feel.

Supplies:

Paper:Antique Cream collection from Creative Imaginations, basic black
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Heidi Swapp chipboard clocks, pin, pearls and brads from StampinUp pretties kit, kraft taffeta ribbon

Shortcuts to a vintage look:
1) It's all about the paper!
Really. The paper is the main element on the page, so it has the biggest impact. Neutral tones are the easiest to work with, but rich, jewled tones such as navy, burgandy and dark purple work well too. Not to say that you can't use bright colors, but because of their vibrance it's harder to pull off an aged look.

Choose vintage or aged designer paper. I've seen some great examples in the travel section, with script writing or distressed florals. Can't find vintage paper? Read shortcut #2
Finally the photo itself. Print it in sepia or black and white. You can use photo editing software to "distress" the photo ahead of time or you can do it by hand.

2) Distressing
I could do several tutorials on this topic alone, so I'm just going to cover the ideas and if you have question on the details there are a ton of resources onilne or just post a comment and I'll be happy to answer.
What can be distressed? Well, just bout anything on your layout - the photos, paper, embelishments etc. Some of the popular techniques include: roughing up the edges (with a distressing tool or a pair of scissors), sponging, bending and crinkling the paper, using sandpaper to scrape the paper or photos.

The cracked glass technique is another great look for vintage layouts. Just emboss an image with thick, clear embossing powder and when it sets, bend the image to crack it in a few places. Use as is or finish it off by adding some ink to the cracks to emphasize them. Voila - the cracked glass technique.

Did you know that heavy duty cardstock like Stampin'Up can be distressed to look like worn leather if you're going for a western theme?! Crinkle and rub the paper (creamy caramel, close to cocoa or a similar color works well). For added emphasis sponge the edges and crinkles. You can leave it as is, or stamp an image on top.

3) Complement the era
Where you would normally use ribbon - tie a piece of lace. Add a jewel or a picture of one. Maybe feathers. Use stamps to help emphesize the time period or an "aged" look. If unsure about what fits, do some research on the style of the era you're trying to portray or use generic "timeless" items such as: pins, flowers, clock (not digital), old style postage, etc.

On the layout above I let the paper do most of the work for me. It was neutral with a script pattern that resembled an old handwritten letter, so it fit well. I still scattered the photos and added journaling blocks just like i would on a modern page, however, i added a few "timeless" embelishments such as a clock chipboard piece, neutral ribbon, pearls and pin. Added some journaling and the page was done.

The same concepts can be applied to a card. I used neutral DP that looked like old letters for the background, added pewter eyelets to keep with the aged look, distressed and slightly sponged the edges of the image and added a few other embelishments in the same color scheme.

Supplies:

Stamps: Eiffel Tower from Stampabilities

Paper: Heritage Postcard by Provo Craft

Ink:Going grey, sahara sand, StazOn (to stamp on metal)

Accessories: Stampin'Up! pewter jumbo eyelets, metal tag, twine, ribbon from Hobby Lobby

Tools: Crop-a-dile

Other things to keep in mind when scrapbooking old photos:

Do NOT use the originals. Scan them and then print at home or through a photo processing service. Some places even offer photo restoration services.
If you're very conscientious about your albums lasting for decades, be careful to use acid-free items on the layout (including adhesives and inks) or spray the page with a product like "Make it Acid Free" by Krylon to neutralize the acidity and make the pages archival safe.
Let the photos take center stage.
Ask family members to help with the details of the story. If you or someone else wasn't there when the photo was taken, write down the memories of the the people or the place in the photo.

~Olgy

CAS Monday

2009-08-31T23:13:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to stamp today, but it's difficult for me to do during the week. The CAS (clean and simple) Monday challenges are perfect when I don't have a lot of time, i.e. most of the time.

First there was CAS15 - Black & White & 1 Bold Bright. Unfortunatley, I didn't read the directions carefully until I was getting ready to upload the card and I sneaked in some kraft with the black and white... ooops. In my attempt to catch up to the recent CAS challenges I actually skipped around today because I wanted to make a yellow card. I don't use bright colors too often, but either as a tribute to summer or because yellow cards, stationaries, templates etc have been haunting me lately, but I just had to use yellow. I think I'll play around with this color combo a bit more later and see what else I can come up with. By the way, it's difficult to tell from the photo, but the flowers are raised with dimensionals.

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

Stamps:Pretty Amazing, Happy Harmony
Paper: Whisper white, basic black, yoyo yellow, kraft
Ink:Basic black
Accessories: Rhinestones, pop up dots.
Tools: Flower punch, scalloped punch

I also participated in today's CAS30 challenge to remake an older card. Here's my version of a CAS card getting even simpler. There's a picture of the original in my gallery, but I wasn't very fond of it. Instead, I took out all the layers and just dressed up the rub-on with a few rhinestones and ribbon. Ahh, what would I do without rhinestones, they make the simplest cards eye catching. That's all for today. Happy Monday.

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

Stamps: none
Paper: Whisper white
Ink:none
Accessories: Love and happiness rub-on, ribbon, rhinestones

~Olgy

Craft Room

2009-08-30T11:52:00.027-05:00

I've been promising the craft room reveal since May. I feel like I've been talking it up the same way TV stations talk up their fall season premier shows. Frankly, I find it annoying to have to see the same commercials all summer so by the time September rolls around I don't even want to see the show. Therefore, without further ado, I present to you my new craft room....

Ikea Expedit bookshelf, Arthur table legs, Vika tabletop, Hemnes dresser

Ok, keep in mind that it's still not "perfect" and is a work in progress, but since I have a place for the basic essintial it's oficially considered open. For those of you in town - come by and visit!

And no, I didn't copy the design out of the IKEA catalog, although you have to look closely to find the things that are not sold by them :) Heck, it's cheap and it all matches, so it's perfect for a room like this. The only problem is that they're changing their catalogs faster than I can make up my mind on some of this stuff, so I'm still missing a shelf and a few other things that are no longer sold in store. Thank goodness for Craigslist and Ebay.

The curtains I made myself and I still have one wall where I need to decide if I should frame some patterned fabric as art, or setup a shelf to display my layouts. I'm taking suggestions.

IKEA Grundtal kitchen shelf

IKEA Justda glass shelves

Nothing In Particular

2009-08-21T21:11:00.010-05:00

Still stamping, still baking and still behind on my blog posts... I actually had quite a few cards and other pictures to share, but I'll have to pick a few favorites and upload the rest to the gallery.

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

Stamps: Owl Always Love You b y GinaK
Paper: Almost amethyst , whisper white, Bluebird "All Boy" Stripe DP by My Mind's Eye
Ink: Copics
Accessories: mini clip, ribbon
Tools: Photo corner punch

I even went out a few times in the past month. At this rate I just need 12 more months of unpacking and move-in house projects and I'll have my life back. Anyway, I went beer tasting, missed a cupcake event, discovered Austin had wineries, caught a show at the Alamo and most importantly I started scrapping again. Sounds like a lot, but then again I haven't posted anything a month.

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

Stamps: Tier of treats by Stampendous, wonderful wors
Paper: Old olive, apricot appeal, DP
Ink: Chocolate chip, apricot appeal, real red, cameo coral, close to cocoa
Accessories: Ribbon, crystal effects
Tools: Bigz Top Note, Cuttlebug

It's All About Food

2009-07-19T23:25:00.011-05:00

Another week flew by... I still have a few of the CAS cards to share from last week, but didn't make anything new this weekend. Instead, I was busy cooking and doing a few more house projects.This ladybug card is very simple, but still kind of cute and great for notes to friends. The background is embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots. The scalloped border would be a sinch with square Nestabilities or a punch, but I didn't have either in the right size and resorted to cutting with my rectengular Nestabilites twice to make a sqare. Finally, the ladybug is stamped twice and popped up for a 3D effect. All in all though, it took me about as long to type this up as to make the card, so that's a big plus.

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

Stamps: Cute & Curly
Paper: Very vanilla, Dill Blossom DP by SEI
Ink: Mellow moss
Accessories: mini clip, ribbon
Tools: Punch

I finally made ice cream for the first time this year - coffee with a hint of Baylee's. Yum! Tried out a tandoori chicken recipe. The flavor was great, but to my surprise it wasn't spicy at all so I'll have to add a few more serrano peppers next time. The favorite had to be the Sourdough Rosemay bread. I got some sourdough starter from my friends (thanks, Jud) and it was finally ready to use this weekend. I found a basic sourdough recipe online and adopded it by adding fresh rosemary and some italian spices. Mmm, the smell alone was phenomenal. I could have baked it in the oven for a nicer loaf shape, but since it was just for me I let the breakmaker do all the work. I'm so glad i bought it, I've been using it at least once a week and its super easy - dump all the ingrediants in adn 3 hours later... Magic - a fresh, fragrant loaf of bread. To finish off the weekend, I prepared frosting for tomorrow's class, as usual, and some cupcakes for later this week.

Ok, so it wasn't all about food this weekend, I actually did a brick Saturday morning (bike+run). It may have been a first one this year, which shows how little I've been training. I need to check if Jack's Generic Tri still has open spots and maybe sign up to give me some motivation. It's a very short tri, so I'm thinking that even though I'm out of shape, I should be able to finish it. It's only two weeks away, so I'll have to hurry.

Simplicity

2009-07-12T22:07:00.009-05:00

After a long cessation, it's been all about cards the past few days. Last week I got a card and stamp set in the mail from Emily, a generous fellow scrapper on SCS.While waiting for a few things to get here in the mail so I can put the finishing touches in my craft room, I dusted off a my other stamp sets and made a few simple cards. Turns out that while I was living under a rock the past few months (in my case it's been a big two story rock) Slitcoaststampers forum added a few more daily challenges. They're a ton of fun, but I hardly had time to keep up with one, occasionally two of them a week before, let alone now. However, the new CAS - Clean and Simple challenge intrigued me. As much as I admire elaborate cards, sometimes it's the simple ones that are the most breathtaking, probably in part because you look at them and think "Wow, that's so simple, yet so (...elegant, beautiful, cute, glamorous, adorable...)" Followed by, "... Why didn't I think of that!?" It's true, sometimes making a minimalistic card is a lot more difficult. I would love to possess that talent, but to some extant I lack the vision for these super clean and simple cards that some of the very talented stampers have. I still experiment and learn and I guess that's the fun of it anyway. I started at the beginning and finished 8 challenges this afternoon, here are a few:

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

Stamps: Cute & Curly
Paper: Very vanilla, Dill Blossom DP by SEI
Ink: Mellow moss
Accessories: mini clip, ribbon
Tools: Punch

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

Stamps: Spring solitude
Paper: Whisper white, pretty in pink
Ink: Chocolate chip, pretty in pink
Accessories: Rhinestones
Tools: Paper piercer

Back to Basics

2009-07-09T21:54:00.004-05:00

My first card in 6 months! It was tough to get started - I pulled out lots of papers and colors, browsed through bookmarked images and was about to give up and just case a few cards, but as I started stamping I was able to get some creative juices flowing and make this Serene Spring card. I was reluctant to use my Hodgepodge Hardware and BasicGrey ribbon, but they fit in with the color scheme, so I overpowered the herder in me. This is also the first card where I used Copics that I got last fall and of course a touch of glitter to add some bling. It's so nice to have a craft room again!Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

Stamps: Serene Spring
Paper: Certainly celery, chocolate chip, whisper white
Ink: Almost amethyst, certainly celery, copics (E53, E57)
Accessories: Hodgepodge hardware, ribbon from BasicGrey Urban Couture collection, Stickles
Tools: Cuttlebug, scalloped punch

I also started running yesterday... Again. I used to love sports and working out , so I don't know what's been going on the past year. I sporadically ran or biked a few times, but that's about it. Enough is enough though and I'm determined to get back in shape. I've been feeling down and also put on some unwanted pounds so it's time to resume a regular workout routine. My goal is to loose 8-9 lbs over the next two month. It's the most I've ever gained/lost, but I'm hoping it's doable if I start eating better (no more eating frosting during my cake decorating class :) and no Flaming Hot Cheetos in the evenings.). Top that off with some running and swimming and hopefully I'll see results. The heat this year isn't helping though, it's around 100 degrees and humid every day. Although I prefer heat over cold this is a little much even for me.

2 days down, many more to go.

~Olgy

Baking

2009-07-05T23:28:00.004-05:00

I've been on a baking craze lately. It started with a cake decorating class. Not that I bake cakes very often, but I wanted to try something new, plus I'd love to know how to make some of the designs I've seen on the cupcakes. I still needs lots of practice, but this is the first cake I made with roses. The design is kind of random, but we were learning different flowers during this class.

A couple of weeks ago I also got my first break maker. I've only made a few loafs so far and dough for cinnamon rolls, but I've been pretty happy with it. My favorite's been rosemary bread, but I want to experiment with a bit more to try and make sourdough rosemary so I can replace my addiction to the Rosemary Sourdough from Whole Foods (I can finish half that loaf in a sitting).

Aside from baking I finally got around to putting together most of my craft room this weekend. It still needs a little work, but I should be able to post a picture next time. I'm so happy it's finally in a usable state - I've missed stamping.

Weddings

2009-06-04T22:12:00.006-05:00

Earlier this year I helped some friends design and make their wedding invitations and it was kind of funny to get this invite back a few months later. I hope they like how these turned out. After the initial design it actually didn't take that long to make. Between 5 people it took us about 5 hours to make roughly 80 invites and return cards. Here's one of them

So many of my friends got married or engaged in this past year and it's hard to believe Pete and I are have been married for almost 4 years and just celebrated our 9th anniversary. Time flies.

~Olgy

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

Stamps: The Art of Life
Paper: Whisper white, night of navy, vellum
Ink: Night of navy
Accessories: Ribbon
Tools: Punches, sponge

Our New House

2009-05-26T22:30:00.006-05:00

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. The move just took everything out of me. It went from mortgage paperwork, packing and cleaning to moving, unpacking, home improvement projects and more cleaning. My DH said point blank that we're never moving again. Well, I don't think I can make that drastic of a statement, but this endeavor certainly took a lot out of me. The sad part is that two months later there still isn't a single room that can be considered "done." The kitchen tile needs grouting, the living room is serving as storage for my husband's tools, the dining room is half painted (still), the bedroom has butcher paper on windows due to the lack of proper window treatments, the craft room is packed up... and we've been working pretty much non-stop on this house during all our "free" time. I'm realizing that I can handle the move or the job, but juggling both is getting to me.
So is it worth it? I don't know, but better or worse this is our new place.

~Olgy

Out of Shape

2009-03-07T22:28:00.002-06:00

Last year I started biking, swimming and running more to prep for the first tri. By the end of summer I finally got somewhat of a routine, but this fall and winter I was busy and lazy and practically stopped working out all together. Agh, I'm so mad at myself. Now it's time to get back into shape. I'm not sure yet if I'll have time/money to sign up for a tri this summer, but I definately need to start training. This morning I went for the first ride in months... now to actually keep it up.

No cards or layouts today, but I'll try to have something new for you tomorrow.

~Olgy

The Move Is On

2009-02-28T22:46:00.012-06:00

I didn't have time to blog lately. To be perfectly honest, I didn't have time for much else lately besides work and prepping for the move. It's been exhausting!

Last weekend was all about paint and window treatments. My DH said I can paint as many rooms as I want in the new house as long as he doesn't have to get involved. Well, I may have been a little over zealous, but I made several trips to Home Depot and now have 10+ cans of paint in the garage waiting until we close on the place. Now I'm a little worried how long this will take, but I'm planning on having a mellow moss wall in the bedroom, a soft sky and chocolate chip craft room and gray office. For the dining room I used a paining I own as inspiration and want to paint a red accent wall and yellow walls, hopefully it won't be too bright. Since I've been packing and buying things for the house, I had very little time to stamp. Sadly, I'll have even less time and no craft room for the next couple of months, but the new room will be a real room (instead of a loft) and will have a closet and space for an extra table.

In the past few days I was lucky to get two adorable cards! One from my big DSS sis from this round (thanks, sis, can't wait to find out who you are) and a super cute valentines card from Shelley who was my DSS sis last year. I love the layered heart and the touch of glitter. Thanks for thinking of me.

~Olgy

Cold or Allergies?

2009-02-08T19:57:00.008-06:00

Is it possible to have a cold without a sore throat? I've feeling horrible since last night - headache, stuffy nose, watery eyes, sneezing. It feels like a bad cold, but I didn't have a sore throat so does that mean it's allergies? Everyone says that even if you don't have allergies, you're likely to develop them after a few years of moving to Austin. Feeling like this for the entire cedar season?! I really hope it is just a cold.

Since I was home all day and in no shape to do anything around the house, I made a few more cards for SCS card sketch challenges. The first is a Valentine's card for my DSS Sis using SC213 sketch as inspiration. I love this hippo stamp (another image I got through WishRAK), but I need some practice with shading. The bow ties the card together.

The second is a spring card using the SC214 sketch. I love Basic Grey papers, but I have a tendency to stash them. I just buy more and more, but feel bad using them. Well, it's a second card today using Basic Grey :) It may be a bit hard to see on the photo, but the flowers are covered with Crystal Effects to add a little more shimmer.

Agh, a whole day went by and all I did was make a few cards. I need to start feeling better soon.

~Olgy

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

Stamps: Just So Hippy by Gina K, So Very, Party Punch, Spring Solitude
Paper: Basic grey, baja breeze, pretty in pink, Blush by basic Grey, Lilykate by BasicGrey, blue Bazzil, going grey
Ink: Chocolate chip, bashful blue, basic grey, Versamark
Accessories: embossing powder, rhinestones, ribbon from Hobby Lobby, Crystal Effects
Tools: scalloped punch, tab punch, Swiss dots embossing folder, Nestabilities

Paper Sewing

2009-02-08T19:33:00.004-06:00

I got some adorable Willow with Cookies images through Wish RAK and got a chance to use of them for FS104 Challenge last weekend. This isn't a very typical color combo for me, but I wanted to coordinate with the DP. It's my first attempt at using the sewing machine on the card and I love it! The inside seam is just a straight stitch and the outside one is a neat cross-stitch available on my machine. I'm hooked!

~Olgy

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

Stamps: Willow with Cookies by Whiff of Joy
Paper: Rose red, Blush by BasicGrey, tempting turquoise, whisper white
Ink: Rose red, tempting turquoise, creamy caramel, pretty in pink, barely banana, chocolate chip, glitter pen
Accessories: Prima flowers, buttons, rub-ons
Tools: Nestabilities, scallop border punch, sewing machine

I've Been RAKed!

2009-02-02T21:38:00.004-06:00

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it stands for Random Act of Kindness. On SCS that translates to sending cards to other members for no particular reason except to brighten their day. Well, today I came home to a wonderful surprise from Anne - an adorable Valentine's Day card and stamped images for me to play with (she even picked the ones I loved the most from the gallery). Anne is just incredible and takes time to leave thoughtful messages in the gallery, so if you have time, check out her gallery and leave some nice comments.

I, on the other hand, am very late with sending out my cards. I said I was going to pick a couple of people who visited my blog and send them RAKs on January 10. Hmm, does it still count if I wish it was January? So with no further adieu... The first person to link to my Blog was Amy and the person I drew at random from everyone who left comments was Marilyn. Email me your snail mail addy and I'll get these out shortly.

~Olgy

Engagement Card

2009-01-31T23:01:00.018-06:00

It's VSBN (Virtual Scrapbooking Night) weekend which I usually plan out weeks in advance, but this time I'll be lucky if I get a few hours tonight to catch up on a few challenges. If you like scrapbooking I encourage you to check it out - it's a lot of fun! Challenges will be posted through Sunday night and you have a few more days to get all the pages in. I'll join in just after I finish up a few cards.

So many of my friends are either getting married or having kids this year. I can hardly keep up with the number of baby, shower and wedding cards so I'm resolving to reusing some of the designs. This is a CASE of my own card from last year.

I love this Dainty Bella stamp and blue color scheme. The envolope is also hand-made. I collected a few different sqare envelopes over time, traced them onto a piece of cardboard to make the template more durable and then wheneven I want a custom colored envelope I use the templates. Vellum works especially well for adding dry embossing details.

~Olgy

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

Stamps: Dainty Bella by Stamping Bella, Best Yet

Paper: Bashful blue, Retro Prints by Die Cut with a View, blue vellum for the envelope

Ink: Basic Black, bashful blue, chocolate chip

Accessories: Prima flowers, rhinestones, silver Stickles

Tools: Nestabilities, 1/16" circle punch, Priceless brass template for the envelope.

I'm Still Here

2009-01-26T20:42:00.008-06:00

I don't know how I let the time get away from me. I was putting off posting until I got some new projects to share, but I had no time for stamping. Things haven't been going well at work - everybody's pay was cut by 10% so now I'm not sure whether we can proceed with buying our house. I spent a lot of time worrying, recalculating, renegotiating but now I just have to wait and see. In all honestly I don't even know if I still want to move given that all the improvements we were planning on would now have to be put on hold. At this point I just want to know one way or another.

On the bright side, after a few years or contemplation I finally bought a sewing machine. Last time I used one of these to do something other than a basic trim was when I was 9, so you can say I'm a bit rusty. I justified the purchase as an investment for making window treatments in the new house, but I'm also really excited about finally having a sewing machine handy for cards and scrapbooking. I plan on giving it a spin this weekend and posting something next time. Speaking of sewing, anyone have suggestions for good sewing websites and references?

In the mean time, here's a project I made a year ago but that I had a lot of fun doing - a chipbord album for my newphew's Cowboy themed birthday party for his 5th birthday. He just turned 6 this Saturday, so it feels appropriate.
The album is by Basic Grey that I got from my sweet DSS sis last year and the papers are from the Stampin'Up Outlaw collection.

~Olgy

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

Stamps: Wanted
Paper: Outlaw, creamy caramel, really rust, chocolate chip, sage shadow, close to cocoa
Ink: really rust, basic black, sage shadow, chocolate chip
Accessories: brads, Hodgepodge hardware, twine, alphabet stickers by Basic Grey, jumbo eyelets, chipboard album by Basic Grey, ribbon
Tools: punches, craft knife

Bigz Notes Frame Card

2009-01-06T22:00:00.007-06:00

I had a chance to catch up on some scrapping this weekend before it was time to go back to work. I loved this week's featured stamper for SCS FS100. It took me a while to decide which card to use for inspiration because I loved them all. Julie's adorable Thanks a Bunch card and my take on it:
I usually use a die cut and toss the outer paper, but this outline of the Bigz Notes die looked just like a frame so I saved it and like the the little extra color it added to this card. I stamped the stems for the flowers, adhered the flowers with a dot of glue, covered it with rhinestones and to add some ribbon. Pretty simple! I'll have to make a few more variations.

Don't forget that my card giveaway ends January 10th and I also added a section for other awesome blogger's blog candy links on the left - check them out!

~Olgy

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

Stamps: Oh So Lovely (stems only), Best Yet
Paper: whisper white, kraft, pink vellum
Ink: pretty in pink
Accessories: taffeta ribbon, rhinestones
Tools: Bigz top notes die, punch

2008: A Year In Review

2009-01-05T22:15:00.007-06:00

First of all, let me apologize about the format of the Flocking tutorial in my last post. I've made a few attempts to repost it, but every time the spacing either in FireFox or IE is skewed and the pictures are misaligned. I'm sorry about that. If you're having problems viewing it try using FireFox or if you'd like a pdf of this instead, just email me and I'll send one to you.

Now, for some belated 2008 wrap-ups. I thought this was one of my least eventful years - no vacations, mostly work. Then I started listing the things I've done and to my surprise it was a lot more than I thought. A lot of firsts. A first trip to Singapore, actually Asia in general; a first tri; a first craft room (well, loft); started building a house; started this blog, etc. I actually ran out of space on my layout and had to stop at 10.

See Flocking Tutorial if you want to know how to make your own "fuzzy" letters.

Now thinking about 2009, I'm not big on for making New Year's resolutions. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for self improvement, I just don't tend to associate it with the first of the year. Maybe knowing that I have a year to realize something makes it feel like it has to be something BIG. Or maybe I just feel like I wouldn't get as much done right away if I had a full year in front of me (admit it, we all procrastinate). Instead I'll just try to do more "firsts." With the move I doubt I'll be traveling much, but I'd like visit some new place outside of Austin. I need to start training again... maybe even train for an Olympic distance instead of a sprint if I can find the time. I don't want to set a goal who's outcome is out of my hands, so instead of making a goal of getting published or getting on a design team I'll make a goal to submit. I often say I will and then forget or change my mind, so this year by March I want to submit at least ten of my pieces. Ok, that's more than I keep track of as is. Happy New Year!

~Olgy

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

Stamps: none
Paper: kraft, SEI Dill Blossom, whisper white
Ink: basic black
Accessories: Stampin'Up! Sticky Cut Letters, Fun Flock, Basic Grey Obscure rub-ons
Tools: Wishblade

Fun Flock Tutorial and Tips

2009-01-03T13:11:00.027-06:00

I have a few New Year related posts I want to do, but first here's a fun flock tutorial I promised earlier.

Fun flock, also known as flocking, is made up of loose fibers and can be used to add fuzzy appearance to craft projects. I love using it on cards with little critters and it looks great on anything from flower, clothing images, alphabet, brads and much more. Fun flock is sold in some local and online retailers. I bought mine at Archiver's.

Working with fun-flock is somewhat similar to working with embossing powder, except it does NOT need to be heat set. I'll walk you through a few different adhesive options and do's and don't tips.

LIQUID GLUE
This is the method I use most often because it's flexible and requires no extra tools.
PROS: good precision, quick and easy to apply
CONS: dry time

1. Stamp the image and evenly apply glue to the sections you want covered. Don't let the glue dry out before you apply the flocking.
Tip: stay inside the lines or even leave a slight gap when applying glue because when pressing in the flocking the glue may spread out. In my example I covered the white sections with glue and left a little extra space around the eyes and mouth of the panda.

2. Pour fun flock over the image, covering it generously. Make sure you have embossing tray or scrap paper under your image so you can easily pour the extra back in the container.
Press the fibers into the glue firmly. Don't rub, just make sure you have plenty of access flock covering the image and press into it. This helps make the flocking feel fuller and more even in the end. If you skip this step, the end result could be a bit patchy and have “bold” spots.
Let the image sit for 10-15min. Don't tap off the flocking yet, just set it aside until the glue dries thoroughly.

3. Tap off the flocking onto embossing tray or scrap paper and tap the paper a few times to get access off. If some flocking is still falling you can VERY GENTLY and evenly rub the image with your thumb to help the access come off.

4. If flocking covers parts of the image you didn't want to use piercing tool or something else pointy to gently scrape the areas being careful to not scrape the paper. For example on my image even though I didn't apply glue to the eye area on the Panda, flocking still covered them partially so I pushed the “fur” out of the areas.

5. Voila! It's ready to be used on a card or layout.

STICKY LETTERS OR TAPE RUNNER

This is the first time i tried using Stampin'Up! Sticky letters and was pretty happy with the results.

PROS: no dry time, even application
CONS: requires extra accessories such as adhesive shapes. If using tape runner then have less precision and takes longer to apply than liquid glue.

1. Peel off the cover on your image to reveal sticky side. I peeled off one side and peeled off the back after I was done, but you may find it easier to adhere to image to the project first.

2. Follow steps 2 and 5 from the Liquid glue portion of the tutorial. The upside here is that there's no drying time so you can tell right away if the coating is even and thick. I found that after the pressing in the powder if the coating isn't thick enough, you may need to picked up the image and add pinches of flocking with your hands to individual areas, then press and gently rub while holding it between your thumb and index finger. It's a bit messy, but the results are more consistent. Be careful to not rub too hard as the adhesive may roll up and come off.

3. If you don't have a self adhesive image, you can also try to create one yourself by applying tape adhesive to paper or chipboard. I had to to that for one of the numbers for a layout in my title because I needed two 0s but the set only had one. I traced the image, cut it out and covered it with tape adhesive. Be careful to cover the entire area without gaps and try to keep the layers fairly even. Finish by following steps 2.

Note: this works ok on larger alphabets but would be difficult on more intricate designs. You also need to be very careful about peeling or rubbing off the adhesive from your paper or chipboard while applying the flocking.

4. Finished letter.

HEAT & STICK POWDER
I actually had the least success with this method and it took me a few tries to get decent results. For larger or more detailed areas this technique may be the better option.

PROS: allows to stamp the image, no need to trace with glue
CONS: requires extra tools such as heat and stick powder and heat tool, the timing has to be very quick.

1. Stamp the image with Versamark

2. Apply heat and stick powder as you would embossing powder.

3. Heat it and really quickly before it's dry add flocking on top. Don't heat the flocking. You can also try layout the flocking out on a tray ahead of time and then pressing the image into it.

4. Tap off and finalize image as outlined in steps 5-7 of the liquid glue technique.

5. As you can see from my example on the left, I didn't add the flocking fast enough the first time I tried this, so most of it didn't adhere properly. The image on the right shows a the better result.

GENERAL TIPS FOR WORKING WITH FLOCKING

When choosing a stamp or image to use with this product, keep in mind that it's opaque so the best images are those with empty space in the middle or something that's easy to trace. Images with a lot of detail will not show up very well since the detail will be covered.

When using colored flocking, stamp or color the area with the same color ink prior to adding adhesive and flocking. This helps hide minor "bold" spots.

I'll be posting projects with flocking shortly and look forward to your questions or comments.

~Olgy

Card Blues: Gift Set and Snowbunnybella

2008-12-30T23:25:00.005-06:00

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

2008-12-25T18:11:00.014-06:00

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

2008-12-25T11:50:00.013-06:00

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!

2008-12-25T00:19:00.018-06:00

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

2008-12-23T17:07:00.002-06:00

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