Voluptuous Noel Revisted

Well she's back. This time Noel dressed up in a corset made of Stampin'Up Designer Paper. This was a birthday card for a very good friend..male of course. I drew the design with my Pazzles Software and cut it out from the two different papers. Then I inked the edges of the lighter paper so it would stand out! The eyelets were set with the new Crop-A-dile II Big bite. Which is a great tool for those hard to reach places that the original C-A-D could not reach. Then I used the white Uniball pen to add the white dots to the scallops.

Sorry I have not updated my blog for quite some time now. I have been on a couple mini vacations and have been in the process of purchasing a little historic cottage in the Sierra Mountains. I already have a cute little trailer on the Kern River but the owner had bumped up the space rent last year to a whopping $475 a month. Now is the time to buy so I bought this cottage that is 5 min to fishing and 5 min to the Latte' cafe or if your in the mood for a beer....a 5 min walk to the local pub. So my blogging has and will be a bit off until I get all the arrangements made for upgrading the little cottage. New tile, Central Heating and Air, a paint job and landscaping. But that is why you have Contractors and Landscaping Contractors as friends! Also I have been working on projects for the Pazzles Design Team which I am not allowed to post on my site till about a month after they are done. I was pleased to see on the Swirls &Twirls design CD that comes with the Pazzles Inspiration there were a couple of designs that I had done. Whoo Hoo! Between Stampin' Up, Scor-Pal and Pazzles I am in paper crafting Heaven. And I broke down and ordered the new Inspiration too...Because it is going to go traveling to Utah this summer with me in my motorhome!

Think Spring! My Yard is Blooming!

My Yard is telling me it is time for spring! The Daffodils, Narcissus and Freesia are all up in my yard! Plus we had a temp of 78 degrees today.

Best Fur Friends Word Book

This is another project for my Pazzles Design Team 2008 that I am now able to post. The theme for this project was Best Friend. Well the paper they sent me was called "Wanted"....and my best friend was my Best Fur Friend. This Word Book was really a labor of love dedicated to my poodle; Samantha. Everything was designed by me for this Word Book. The Font I used had a western flair to it. I used the Fat Pen tool holder for the American Crafts Galaxy Marker to outline the letters before cutting out the pieces of the Word Book. I spiral bound it with my Rubicoil and lots of ribbons. All the letters were cut out and pieced to form die cuts.

As you can tell my poodle was spoiled rotton. Some of the pictures I used were images of how she would let me put props on her (Ok Ok doggie clothes) for pictures. One year she had a belly dancing costume on just like the one I made myself. Those were the good old days when I had a killer figure.....Oh no not any more...Yeah I'm 52 and do not have abs of steele anymore...more like buns of jello...blame it on the computer!
This dog used to ride my Waverunner with me..she had her own life jacket too...attached to my life jacket. Loved to swim in the water just like a retriever.....Even pools. Yes I am one of those crazy dog owners that love their dogs so much they rule their life..yup thats me.

We were supposed to create a matching project, so I created a matching box holder for the Word Book with a Belly Band. The diecut Fleur de Lis was copied from the paper to match.

Some of the things I have been crafting while not posting to my blog!

This was a creation I made for the Pazzles Design Team that I can now publish. They send you paper and accessories with a theme. For this project we had to use Perfect Pearls and the pen tool. Well that did not work for me because the Perfect Pearls Pen tool tip smooshed and the lines became mushy. So I designed the swirls to match the paper, cut them out of thin chipboard and used a verigated application of Perfect Pearls on the swirls. We are also supposed to create a matching item(s) for our theme from the paper they give us. This month I did not like the paper at all in the beginning. Just too Bold for me. Well...after staring at the paper for quite a while I came up with a bridal shower theme!! And cut up the paper so it was not so bold. The die cut "My Wedding Shower" was designed by me with the umbrella and the bells added to it. It has 5 layers to it. The "writing" is done with my pen tool on my Pazzles machine, since my handwriting is not as pretty as my machine can do using a Gelly Roll Pen and a nice script.
The gift box and goody holder were ideas that we as card maker/3D object lovers make for fun Holiday Thank You's!

I'm Back! My version of SU's "Show on the Go"

This is my version of Stampin'Up's "Show on the go". I bought 2 "Cork Boards" from Costco. ($ ~20.00 ea) Took them apart and threw the cork and cheap board away. Went to Home Depot and had 2 boards of masonite (~$10.00) cut to fit and then I took my chop saw and cut the corners off. Purchased some padded ©Velcro fabric (commercial wide) (~$50.00) and adhered (3M Super 77 adhesive) the fabric to the front and BACK of the masonite boards. Put the frame back on over the masonite and fabric....done....nope not yet. Put 2 hinges on it so it would fold up to carry. Add a handle and now its done! Along with the ©Velcro fabric came a role of sticky ©Velcro dots that I put on the back of clear envelopes. Now the envelopes are reusable and I do not have to throw them away just rearrange them with new card inserts. The cards are protected and they do not have the Sticky on the back of the card! I was told that makes the cards more professional looking too. I purchased a black table cloth from Bed, Bath & Beyond (~$20.00) and had a fold in half portable table to put it all on. Now I know my time is worth money but I could not see buying the SU's version when I have the time to make my own "better" version. I covered the back also so I can add cards to that If I am at a boutique or show where people walk around the whole table or booth. Now for me without the time added in I only spent $20.00+$20.00 cork boards+$10.00 masonite+$50.00 fabric +20.00 tablecl0th +8.00 (misc: hinges, spray glue) Total Approx: $128.00. For me This was the least expensive route and I am proud of what I created for the amount of money. Plus I am not buying a $41.00 tablecloth!!! Unless it is a Damask embroidered antique! Now I can spend more on Stamp sets! Their price for just the Velcro board + Table cloth $236.90
SU total:SHOW ON THE GO
Item # Description Packaged Amounts Price
102096 Show on the Go Kit 1 $269.95
100487 Velcro Display Board (Pair) w/100 Velcro Dots 1 $194.95
100419 Black Tablecloth (8' long) 1 $41.95
100875 Black & White Logo Banner (2' x 3') 1 $25.95
I want to thank Lorraine for giving me the inspiration. Her Boutique pictures got me all fired up!