So, I should be cleaning...

but I wanted to post some of my cards that we made today for my Birthday card class!

Here's the full view of the Little Cupcake card, sweet and simple.

And to mix things up a bit, here is a more "involved" card using the beautiful Angelee Soar with it Collection from The Angel Company and the stamp set, True Beauty.

I wanted to show how versatile these stamps are ~~ we embossed and then just cut out the butterfly for this card.

Isn't this Labels 9 Nestabilities divine? I'm so happy that we carry a nice selection of Spellbinders dies now!

Well, kids are home in 30 min and I haven't even begun to clean house...better get busy!

eeck!

I didn't want to miss the chance to post today but it will only be a sneak peak of one of the cards we'll be making this Friday at my Birthday Card class... I'm so far behind! I'm still designing and cutting out cardstock as of today. My problem is that I have too many ideas and need to just settle down and pick a few. We will make 5 cards and I have some designed for men in mind and an option to make a child's themed card.

Little Cupcake is a perfect set for birthday cards...and did you know that The Angel Company rolled back it's price from $18.95 to $16.95? Gotta love that!

For my card I used our gel pens on the cherry and polka dots, and watercolor pencils blended with a Dove blender pen. This was so quick and easy - I had forgotten how easy it was to shade with these pencils! I also used two of the Bazzil monochromatic paper packs that we carry - this paper is so lovely that it can really give a card that "wow" factor!

Well, back to work! I have lots to do and can you believe that they are calling for more snow here? I still can't see my front or back yard...but thankfully the driveway and roof are clear.

The Joy of Easter

I can't believe how early Easter is this year - if you like to send out cards for this holiday, The Angel Company has a great selection of stamps that just came out in their Serendipity Magalogue.

Take this set, The Joy of Easter!

I was able to make a cute but quick card with some gorgeous Catalynne paper and my new border punch...I've been coveting this one for a while, bought it some time back but was very disappointed because it ripped apart my paper so I returned it...my coveting continued and so on Friday I went back and tried again - success!! It's a good working punch and I love it!

Card Materials: all stamps and papers from The Angel Company

Stamps: The Joy of Easter

Accessories: Chalk kit, Dove blender pen, buttons, Scrappers Floss (tan), ric rac, EK Success border punch, Catalynne paper and green DCWV

If you don't get my newsletter, you don't know about my personal special this month...spend $30 and get a chance to win one jar of white and a jar of yellow fun flock...it's all about Easter this month! And, if you have a hostess party - you will automatically get 4 chance to win...

Friday...at last!

I don't know why but I'm pooped (and it's only 9 am!)...thankfully, it's Friday!!

Just a quick and easy card to share today...I find that Kraft paper is the best for making a quick card that still looks nice. And, did you know that you can use colored pencil and gamsol on Kraft? It really makes some of the colors pop!

For this card, I used the two free Hostess sets in the new Serendipity magalogue. The Angel Company is so generous with it's hostesses...for a $100 show you get one free set and anything in the catalog for half priced. But through March 1, these benefits are doubled so it's a great time to be a hostess! If you are interested in having a party (catalog parties count!) shoot me an email.

I suppose I could've colored even more on the top of the flowers but I was worried that once I went that way, it would be too much color and I like the clean look of this card. I think I may just practice on a scrap of paper and play around with different looks.

I haven't shared a recipe in a long time and this is one of our family favorites. About 12 years ago we were stationed in Panama and so the TV was pretty limited but we did get the Home and Family show with Christina Ferrare...this was one of the recipes she had on the show and I must say, it it super easy and delicious!

La Orange Chicken

Butterfly 4 chicken breasts (so you can use tenderloins here too) - season and flour. Saute and remove chicken. In a little oil, add: 2 Tbl minced scallion or shallots, 1 cup fresh orange juice, about 1 teas. grated ginger (and I always substitute powder here because that's what I have on hand!), 1 Tbl brown sugar, 2 teas. mustard (not dried). Cook a minute or two and then add the chicken breast. Cook to thicken, about 5 min. You may add a little orange juice if it thickens too much or, if like us, you like a lot of sauce!

Inspiration - Pass it on!

I'm so sore today! I haven't run in months after I fell on my hip and have had quite a bit of pain but I finally did a cardio DVD workout that my husband has been urging me to try - I hung in there for the whole time (with a few modifications and extra rests here and there!) and was so proud of myself. And boy oh boy, I feel it today! But swim suit weather is just around the corner - as I look out the window at four foot piles of snow. Sure!

Heather from Oz-somestamps has been using chalks recently and that really inspired me to pull out my sets... The Angel Company has a nice selection and I had forgotten how shimmery and beautiful these chalk sets are!

I stamped Victorian Elements in the Versamark Dazzle pad and then rubbed a red and green chalk from the Jewel Tones family. Between the sparkle of the Versamark pad and the chalks, this card is so shimmery in real life!

Card Materials: all stamps and papers from The Angel Company

Stamps: Victorian Elements, Savvy Sayings

Accessories: lace, plastic pearls, sizzix flower punch, Brown bazzill, red DCWV, Noir palette ink, Versamark Dazzle, Jewel Tone chalks

When I was gluing the pearls in place, I dropped a bit of glue on the brown panel and hoped that it would dry well and not show. No such luck...sigh, and of course the rest of the card was all glued down. In the end it turned out well I think, to add this strip of lace - it added to the whole card and subdued that brown a bit. Phew! I wish it had been sunny today to take a better picture but this was the best I could get, even fiddling with the photo. Take care - I hope you are having a great week and I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog!

"Go Green" Blog Hop!

Welcome to February's blog hop sponsored by Paperwings...I love being part of such a wonderful group of angels and thanks to Stacy for putting it all together!

The idea is to either recycle something or make something green! I did both...I found this cheap frame at TJ Maxx for 70 cents on clearance...and I pulled out my beloved (sniff, sniff) last sheets of Mulberry Meadows, a retired paper pack from The Angel Company.





I got busy measuring, cutting and gluing down my cardstock - I found YES glue worked the best after I had sanded the frame a bit. I had it in my head that I wanted to color and cut out this cute little gal from Wonder and Joy - what lovely colors to choose from in this paper.





During my first iteration, I just stamped this verse from Seeds of Blessing but in the night it came to me that the Swirlies would make a wonderful addition and that I should "fussy cut" (as Barb calls it!) some extra flowers and float them around the inside...





I used Brilliance White and the Versamark Champagne pads with the Swirlies stamp set and it tied the blue panel to the swirls in the green pattern paper. I was giddy with excitement I tell you! {argh...That one leaf is floating a bit too high but the glue dried so fast that now I just have to get used to it!}


Well...time to see what the rest of the gals created so hop on over to:

Shirley http://glitteredpaws.blogspot.com/
Christine http://christines-creativetherapy.blogspot.com/
Rita W http://stamp2stamp2.blogspot.com/
Laurie http://laurieunger.blogspot.com/
Diane http://www.thesmilinstamper.blogspot.com/
Stacy http://stacy.typepad.com/angel2389
Rita K http://web.me.com/ritasangels/Angelic_Impressions/Blog/Entries/2010/2/14_Angel_Art_Blog_Hop_-_Go_Green.html#

A Touch of Summer

It felt so good to make this card as I look outside...at this!

I'm getting ready for our "green" Paperwings blog hop on Monday. The theme is recycle or anything green...and I think turtles fit the bill! I was worried about this image and wondered how I could get two greens to work together...so I decided to go with a blue frog. Make life simple!

Card Materials: all stamps and papers from The Angel Company

Stamps: Everyday Cuties

Accessories: Surf Shoppe, DCWV Brights, Nestabilities, cuttlebug embossing plate, Prismacolored pencils and gamsol, buttons, ribbon

This Surf Shoppe paper pad is on sale right now for just $2.00...amazing! That's 36 pages, 3 pages of 12 different designs and it's guarantied to get you out of this winter funk!

More snow!!

It's really unbelievable at this point...I'm getting a nice strong back and arms from shoveling to go along with my big tummy from over eating while we're snowed in! tee hee...

Just a quick share since everyone is home today...I was at a discount store (Ross) the other day that sells mostly clothes but I discovered that they had paper too!! And it was glorious paper and cheap. But you know me and paper so I put all but one pad back - and I felt quite proud of myself! This package would work perfectly for making cards for sick children...I've been feeling a tug to make cards for them as well as soldiers. So the other day, Lois, Julie and I really had a good time together. Here's a sampling of what we accomplished...and may I state that Julie is able to create 10 cards in the time Lois and I make 4!! Amazing...

All Stamps Used from The Angel Company: English Everyday Cuties, Little Friends, Monkey Business, Lion (retired)

I'd also like to do a little shout out thank you for some blog candy I won recently!

I got the cutest little Riley stamp from Tanya at www.Rileyandcompanyonline.com

and I was able to pick Snowman Soup from www.inkyantics.com that is perfect for this time of year!

Snowmagedon!

eeck! We got hit hard by the snow storm...30 inches for sure and luckily our power was only out for about 6 hours (and in the night so we could atleast huddle under the covers!). So this weekend I spent the whole time shoveling, checking on the chickens and cooking...I hope to stamp today!!

Luckily last week I had a chance to play with some images that Angela K sent me - big hugs!! I love the Mabelle images from our catalogs and I'm getting some more of her sets with an order I have going in today. This little gal has got lots of sparkle...I added Prisma Glitter with my glue pen. The flower paper is from our Frutti Fusion package that is just $2 for 36 sheets...

I also used the Labels 4 Nestabilities that we now carry...woo hoo! { P.S. If you are looking online for the Spellbinder and Copic products, you'll find them under the SERENDIPITY tab - and then under ACCESSORIES}

REMAINING CARD MATERIALS: Fairytale Fun Stamp set, DCVW papers, prismacolored pencils and gamsol, sizzix border die cut

I'm thinking that this card still needs "something" to give it more pop or balance. Maybe a flower or button tucked in there, mid point and to the left side of the little gal -- what do you think?!

Meet Ingen

Ingen has been a customer for several years now and she lives in the Netherlands. On one of her emails to me, she had her blog link in the signature line - so I paid her a visit and I have been returning to her blog ever since!

Ingen has a crisp, clean style and her favorite set from The Angel Company is Birthday Wishes. It's a set I've never really given a second look at ... until Ingen did her magic on it! Here are just two of her cards but I hope you'll visit her blog to really see all of her work, both scrapbooking and cardmaking.

She does both elegant and cute extremely well!

http://leukedingenvaningen.blogspot.com/

Love you...inside and out!

tee hee...I'm so witty with my blog title today. :)

I normally do not decorate the inside of my cards but I have to say that when I see those cards online that are finished on the inside, I think they look wonderful. So I finally tried it too and I hope you will be significantly impressed!

This first card is a simple 4 1/4 inch square card so you can mail it in a regular envelope. The really cool part on this card is that I used the free, downloadable papers from The Angel Company. {You can find the link to them in my sidebar.} I also used the Scarlet paper pack from them that is the most beautiful red you've ever laid your eyes on!

I love the More Abundance set. Most folks think of it as a "scrapbooking" set but I use it over and over on my cards...For the inside I just repeated the hearts and a snitch of the leftover paper.

Now for a cute little valentine that I plan to give my husband. Kelly R, one of my wonderful downlines, has been coming up with the cutest little scenes on her cards and that really inspired me to get a bit more creative. So I grabbed two different owl sets and the heart background (from the free hostess set) and came up with this card. It's a gatefold card to make it a bit more interesting and I just love it!

I ended up snipping off one of the hearts to make it easier to ink up and place...the little saying "you and me" is from My Journey...I've been grabbing that set a lot these days!

I repeated the black scalloped cardstock and ribbon from the front to finish it off on the inside! So easy - why don't I do this more often?!?!?!

Kids are home for another snow day...it's beautiful outside. I hope you have a wonderful day too!

Kaleidacolor Pads

I have three Kaleidacolor pads that have been sitting neglected...I normally just use them for brayering. I was thrilled last week when I had a reason to use them again. I wanted an ink that I could "watercolor" with and the Palette inks are so hybrid that they dry quickly and are designed to stay put when you watercolor over them. The Kaleidacolor pads are made up of 5 mini but seperate color coordinating dye ink pads within one container. Just in case you didn't know, The Angel Company does carry Kaleidacolor pads and if you need refills, just let me know because we carry those too!!

There are so many wonderful blogs out there and just in case you missed this tutorial over at CHF, I wanted to share my version of it here. Ready to make some really neat 3 inch little notecards?




In addition to some patterned paper and a Kaleidacolor pad, you do need watercolor paper and an aquabrush. I really recommend the Niji brush (I do have both of the kinds we sell so this is experience talking!). For the watercolor paper, if you don't have any yet, be sure to look for the Strathmore Watercolor cold press pads (it has a brown cover and says 400 series).

1. Cut your watercolor paper into 2 x 2 1/2 inch rectangles.

2. Stamp your Kaleidacolor pad face down (you really only need the lightest two colors) on a plastic stamp lid. Pick up the ink with your aquabrush.

3. Start to fill up your watercolor paper with diagonal brush strokes, zig zagging back and forth - pick up more ink as you need it. Do leave a slight border around the edges - see my final card for clarification.

4. Let dry or dry with a heat gun.

5. Stamp your first flower with the lightest ink from your pad. I used the set Watercolor Plants. I kept my ink pad spread apart to make this easier.

6. Make sure the first flower is dry before you stamp with a second flower - using a corresponding shade. That's why using a Kaleidacolor pad makes this easy!

7. Once this is dry, stamp a greeting in any of the open space. I stamped Tag Tidbits in Noir Palette ink but there are lots of choices!

8. Now cut a piece of your patterned paper - 2 3/4 inch square in size. Feel free to distress the edges or use a border punch on one side for added interest. Lesson learned here - pick your paper before you get started...I was thrilled to find the Hemingway Soar with it Collection matched my ink perfectly, but I only found it after I finished stamping all of my squares. phew!

9. Mount both the watercolor rectangle and patterned paper square to a 3 inch notecard. I cut mine out of matching cardstock, in this case, Kraft worked perfectly with my color palette.

10. Last step is to make an envelope. I used my template from to make an envelope out of Hemingway cardstock but then I found out that a 3 inch envelope will not fit a 3 inch card! So either be sure to cut your note card a snitch smaller before you put it all together, or I found a template here that I could adjust to 3 1/4 inch in size.

If you want to check out our Kaleidacolor pads, you can find them all here. All stamps and papers are from The Angel Company.

Edit: Juliet asked how I inked these up with just one color...you can see on the card to the right, I ended up with a snitch of the ink from the next pad on the flower but mainly I dabbed the stamp by just touching it and twisting it in both directions until I had it carefully inked up.