I'm Back!!!

Hello Everyone and Happy Sunday!

Whew - it's been awhile and it might take me a few posts to show you everything I've been up to but first, I'm ok. We were just on the road for a few weekends in a row and it's time consuming to do the laundry, pack, travel, unpack, do laundry and grocery shop for the week's meals. Throw in that Jessica got me hooked on the Twilight Series books by Stephanie Meyer and I was addicted. I was experiencing a creative brick wall and found solace in a good old fashioned love story so I procrastinated. I finaly finished book four yesterday so that I could get back to the land of the living!

My first project was to update the Blog. I've changed the layout and the background but still need to work on the header. I'm getting there so be patient (sissy). I've added the Copic Certification button since I successfully paid for and attended the Certification course in Buffalo on March 23rd. It was the best Certification course I've taken yet - all fun and no test! Hopefully my colored images can now look more like art and less like a Kindergartners first card! One good tip we learned and I'll gladly pass on to you is that Copic markers while permanent on your craft mediums (paper, fabric, metal) can easily be removed from your skin using Purell hand sanitizer. It's mostly alcohol based so it removes the unsightly markings on your skin. I'll get into some of the coloring techniques after I have time to practice. And you can rest assured I'll dedicate some more time to this on one of our craft days when I return to NY.

Next, so you probably know that the Final 4 College Basketball Tournament is being held in Detroit. DH being the College ball fan that he is - invited more than a few of his NY homeys to attend with him. We have nephews Chris and Jay Haacke, son Justin and Clarkson roomey Matt, Brother-In-Law twice removed Tom and nephew Scott in town. Having fed tmost of he guys dinner on Friday and breakfast on Saturday I reveled in the fact that I had the day to myself. I totally enjoyed the day in my craft haven. I started with a Mother's Day card to sell at Spirit Works..



I love the Martha Stewart Butterfly punch - with spring it just goes hand in hand. I saw the Fiskars Lace border punch on a card on Amy Sheffer's site and ran to JoAnn's to snag it. I love the way it blends with the swirls on the DP. I also finally splurged on real sponge dauber's instead of cutting sponges so that I could have a more finished look to my framing. I spent some time organizing all my scraps so that I could use them instead of cutting into new sheets so I am a little uncertain about the details but I'll list the ones I know below.

Here's a look at the inside:



Card Supplies"

Stamp: Inkadinkado (front)
Ink: Versa Magic, Jumbo Java
Paper: Bazzil cardstock, Autumn Harvest DP (dark brown), Alpine Forest DP SEI (white and brown), background - Baby Blue by Paper Adventures
Accessories: Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly punch, Fiskars Lace border punch, Teal satin ribbon from Mary Maxim, paper piercer, Spellbinders Label II die, Swarkovski crystals, inside sentiment done on computer in CK Bella font, sponge dauber


Baby Tags

Next up is a picture of the baby gift tags I sent to sell as well. I again used lots of scraps and have the bulk of my investment in the satin ribbon. Even that was a bargain though as I got it on the 75% off rack at Mary Maxim. You know me and my ribbon fettish - I couldn't resist!

I found some beautiful DP by K&Company at Michaels while visiting Linda in Maryland. We loved the weight, design and colors. I was able to get the Boy Small Wonders pack in 12x12 but could only find the girl version in the 4x6 pack. I recently found this paper in my local JoAnn's but again, they only had the boy version in the 12x12 pack. What's up with that? Any whoo the boy tags were used with the Boy Dp and the girl version was made with some randon pink baby DP. These were pretty easy to make - the hardest part was making the bow and punching through 6 layers of paper! Thank goodness the DH was nearby and able to lend a hand (on the hole punch - not the bow).




Mom's Birthday

Last week was my Mom's B-day and I couldn't post her card until after the event but I wanted to share it with you from the moment it was done. I totally cased this card and design from Amy Sheffer. She used the Citrus Stack DP - looove that paper. I know there were lots of layers but I loved the way the colors all came together and each seemed necessary to finish the look. I know I didn't design this but I was so happy to say - hey I can make that! The most time consuming part was waiting for the SU Crystal Effects to dry on the blue flowers and then determining the size of each layer. I immediately made a second card to keep in my stash as I loved this card. Notice that the Martha Stewart Butterfly is still fluttering by - I'm addicted and it's quite surprising. I was never really a butterfly fan now stars is a different story. I digress I know... here's the card.




I'm sure that this post is now longer than you were hoping for so I'll close and return later with the supplies list for this card.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Cath