INSPIRE, CREATE, SHARE... Stampin' Up Convention 09

Stampin' Up Convention 09!! Ok I miss my 2 furbabies!! Soo...I start off with a picture of everyone's favorite Stampin' Up Assistant Companion MAX!! He belongs to "InkieBunnie" Lisa Marie. As usual the line started before 7:00am for Momento Mall!! And there was still a line after 10:00am to get in!!

Here are some pictures of some of the fun things you can get this year in limited quantities.
How about a really pretty ornament...Only one per cutstomer.

Everybody on the run grabbing all the goodies!

Environmentally friendly water bottles...one per customer.

Rubics cubes in the new In Colors....Ok I think this idea was a flop. I did not see anyone buy one of these.


Cute little make-up bags with separates to buy for it like a nail kit, lotion, a compact mirror, nail files....Very cute!


And here we are in our fun new SWAP aprons. Eva made her aprons with her group name of Bee Breative" and I stenciled my HotPaws Creations on my apron along with putting vinyl pockets with buttons all over and embroidery in selected areas.

Some of my swaps for convention

Here are 3 of my swaps for convention. The little gift bag is a 2-5-7-10 gift bag made on my Scor-Pal. The Haunted Step card has 3 steps and a tall one on the side (I used my Pazzles Inspiration to cut these out). The snowflake card is a Sizzix Bigz Die creation. All stamps and colors are Stampin' Up. I am getting ready to leave for convention on Sunday. This year I am driving the car and boarding my 2 poodles. I am really going to miss my little furry girls. Ok ......See some of you at Convention '09!!

Pen Tool Announcement!! It's done!!

It's done! For all of you that have Stampin' Up Pens©...You can now use them with your Pazzles™ Inspiration Creative Cutter. Other pens that will work in the pen holder tool are Close To My Heart™, Zig™, Uniball Signo™ and Sharpie® Fine Tip Pens. I wanted to use my SU pens in my machine so I called upon my best friend....the "nutty professor" aka the prototype engineer to help me! After he made a couple of prototypes that worked, he was able to design a 2 piece mold out of aluminum for me. This part was not free but I did get the "cousin" discount on his work for me! He has a Prototype Injection Molding machine in his garage. (That's really cool!!) So I now know how to make my own injection molded parts! With his help of course! So I essentially "rented" his molding machine and injected my own parts one at a time. Unfortunatly his machine only does one at a time so that was my option!! Started out with basic black and white ABS plastic and then mixed them to get a "zebra" effect. Then added another color to the white and created a purple zebra tool and a turquoise marble one too. My whole intent with this was to create an affordable tool in this tough economy. I am proud to say it's "Made in the USA" by me!! So the introductory price is US$ 15.00 plus $4.95 S &H = US$ 19.95. I have put a PayPal button on the right side of my blog close to the top. I will be accepting PayPal and of course checks and cash! I will be including a second screw in case anyone strips their first screw by tightening down too hard. I am also including a foam pencil grip to help with alignment of smaller barrel pens in this pen holder. Have a great weekend!

I am back after a six month hiatus!

Well time does fly when your busy. The last six months has been a bit of a rollarcoaster for me. January was my birthday month and my sweet adopted Husky Doe became very sick. So at the beginning of February I had to say goodbye to her... She was about 14 years old. Then in March I received the news that my adopted poodle furbaby Muffin had kidney disease. So I started giving her an injection of fluids everyday. But it was not helping like it had in the past with other pets I have owned. So again I had to say goodbye to another beloved pet...Muffin....she was about 13 1/2 years old. Wow losing 2 pets within 4 months is a bit hard on one's heart! Needless to say my mojo flew out of the window for a while. So my mojo is coming back slowly but surely. I still have my 17 1/2 year old poodle Monique and yes I did adopt another furbaby. But that will be another post coming up. I have been working on updating my blog all day and getting ready for the debut of my new Pen Tool for the Pazzles ™ Inspiration Creative Cutter that will be using Stampin' Up Pens!!

Christmas Goody Bags

Last night my friend Deb and I made all her gift bags for her work people. Since she has such a stash of paper we used a lot of her papers adding my Stampin' Up Real Red to compliment the bags. In her bags were a coffee mug with some hot chocolate tins so the outside cello bag was filled with Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips and mini marshmallows and teeny tiny little peppermint pillows. Using the Top Note Sizzix die for the bag topper. I printed off all her work buddies names on to Confetti white cardstock in red using a font called "Santa's Big Secret". Then using the Curly Label punch we punched out the names for the cello bags. The top layers of the paper bags were edged with the scallop punch for a fun effect. The two special bags received some bling in the form of heat set pearls and rhinestones, using the Bejeweler heat setter. I get all my heat set stones and pearls from "Sue's Sparklers" in Escondido CA. The pretty snowflake blue bag used Stampin' Up DSP Ski Slope paper. Now to get my stuff done... All my friends stuff is done. I haven't even decorated the tree yet....Whoa am I behind.....

More of my busy work from last night!

More of my glue gun magic! These large plastic ornaments were purchased from Michaels. A few craft picks and ribbon and glue!

Viola!! Beautiful..... Originally I had bought a decorated ornament for $26.00 at the local holiday craft show (Sugar Plum Festival). Using that as my inspiration, I created these ornaments of my own for 1/4 of the price!
You can see my reflection in one of them as I took the picture. I think I will be selling some of these next year at craft boutiques. Ho Ho Ho of the Holidays!!

Decor Elements Christmas Shadow Box

I was busy last night! I had bought this shadow box over a month ago to use with this Santa Decor Element from Stampin' Up. Talk about last minute.....jeez! Glue gun in hand, ready to attack... Here is the final product. Using Stampin' Up' s Ski Slope DSP I covered the back with the pretty snowflake paper. I had purchased some craft picks at Michaels and cut them all up.

The Decor Element was looking kind of plain with all the glittery things inside so I outlined him with Stickles glitter glue. Putting a big red blorp of red for "Rudolph's" nose.
The Santa sleigh needed some definition so I outlined some packages in the back and put some Frost White Stickles on his hair, hat and cuffs. before shutting up the shadow box I dumped some glitter and flaky glitter inside to make it look snowy if you shake it up!

Shut everything up and added some string pearls to the outside of the box with Crystal Effects as the glue for the pearls.

I think it came out very nice...a little late but nice!! On Dasher...On Dasher....

You go Rudolph!!

Get Well card using Our Craft Lounge Stamps

I just fell in love with this little elephant when I saw him! I went to a Copic Marker make and take the other day. The stamp company is Our Craft Lounge. Personally I was not thrilled with the Copic Markers for the price that they command. I did purchase 2 sets; pastels and brights. I got better results with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol blending spirits. (Elephant colored with Prismacolors) For the money that Copic's cost per pen and having to buy 3 shades to get good blending...nope not for me. I can watercolor blend better then the Copics also. Wow me saying I don't like an expensive tool...wow something must be wrong with me. All the paper & ribbon supplies are Stampin' Up; Pacific Point, Whisper White and Bashful Blue. Also the dots are Dew Drops.

Doggie Die Cut

I really have been busy making things but cannot put them on the blog till later due to contracts and some being Christmas gifts (don't want to spoil the surprise)

This adorable little gal began her "life" as a black & white GIF image. Now look at her, Isn't she adorable!! I used Stampin' Up products to ink up the edges and bone. I used a Gelly Roll Glaze pen to color her collar then dipped it in glitter. Of course doggies have wet noses so I applied Crystal Effects on to the nose. Then using a white pen to put white fur on the chest and eyes (oops eyes were done after the photo)

I purchased a new software the other day that really simplified making die cuts for me. I normally design all my own die cuts from scratch or occasionally hand trace a photo to get exact details (Wacom 9 x 12 tablet). Then I manipulate the design so it does not look like the original to avoid copyright issues. I am not a crafter/artist that can draw from my head out of thin air like some, I have to have a model in front of me to draw. Well this new software is amazing on how well it vectorizes and image. Previously I was using a Pazzles SignMax WinPC 2007 version for my Pazzles Creative Pro machine. Now I just bought the SignMax Funtime Scrapbooking 2009 Deluxe version (Which is much like the Pazzles Inspiration software by SignMax). Wow what a difference; no more choppy lines, new fun special effects.... I do have to give credit to Ivan at SignMax in Canada for updating my driver to work with my Pazzles Pro. The image above was obtained from the Graphics Factory. Now having given them credit and linking to their site, I do believe I am following their copyright rules. This next picture is directly from the Funtime software after cleaning up the image and turning it into a paper piecing. You can click on the picture below and get the WPC version 14 file (I hope the link works, If not just email me) Happy Howlidays!! Woof Woof

Christmas fishes to all!

This little guy just caught the Christmas Spirit wave....When you go surfing here in California you occasionally have a few "finned" friends helping. The dolphin are known to "body surf" with the human surfers. This great Stampin' Up set called "Shellabrate" is really versatile and cute. Here I used a couple of stamps from Judith and Heather also; the little xmas light on the surfboard and the little snowflakes in the background,

The Pacific Blue combined with Bashful Blue background was embossed with a Cuttlebug snowflake folder. The wave was lightly watercolored with inks. You can not see the Stickles in this photo but the image is quite glittery. The envelope that is to be used is below.

The card below that is a very simple version that I am going to be helping a friend do for her Christmas cards. That prototype was colored with Prismacolors and Gamsol

Craft Show Set Up

Here are the pictures of my booth at my first "boutique". I have 4 fold up tables that are 4 ft each. The beige and red baskets that are standing up in the back left are fold up for easier set up and take down storage. I purchased them from Cost Plus and to make them stronger I can zip tie them together. I had a "Sock Monkey" holding a "Sock Monkey" card in his lap. The display board in the back is Velcro so I can change out cards quickly when I need to, I have a velcro dot on the back of a clear envelope so I don't ruin the card If I choose to send it out later. I made the display board myself from two cork board wall memo holders. Since it was my Upline that put this boutique together...There were not alot of customers to get interested and sign up. Oh Well. Any way it was fun and I sold some old stamps and a couple catalogs.

Top Note Santa Suit

This cute little Santa suit was made using the Sizzix Top Note die. I cut a strip of basic black for the belt and a strip of Presto Sticky Felt for the center. Using the Curly Label punch and the horizontal slot punch with brushed silver for the belt. I collect all kinds of brads and eyelets so I thought these cute little buttons were just perfect for the finishing touch.

Here is a close up detail of the buttons & felt and how it looks just perfectly furry for the center of the Santa Suit. Ho Ho Ho!

Snowflake Christmas Card

Here is a quick and easy Christmas card using the Big Shot Stampin' Up Snowflake die and the large Scallop Circle die. I covered the snowflake with Dazzling Diamonds glitter using a liquid glue pen. Topped it off with a rhinestone brad...Done. I am up at the Kern River and the weather is just beautiful but internet service is very frustrating! My lap top keeps disconnecting ...ARGGGGHHH..I have tried to post this 3 times. Needless to say 45 min later...I purposely put a couple pics on mylaptop to upload but this is taking way toooooooo longggggg. Happy Shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Stampin' Up has a great sale going on right now...starting today through Dec. 1 Monday..ONLY. Check it out! Go to my Stampin' Up website and order before supplies are all gone!!

Don't forget Rub-On's are also on sale through Nov. 30!

Last Pazzles post.... back to Stampin' Up next post

One of the Pazzles Design Team projects for Sep. was to design 2 titles for a new CD coming out in the future. Boy were mine polar opposites!! I went from Babies to Halloween. Anyway the frightfully good time one uses lime green Stickles for the runny green slime on the caps of the letters. Also the pen tool was used for the lettering on the head stones.
The clothes line "Baby" uses the "kiss cut" to define the outline of the onesie with a border. Isn't the baby one cute! They will be on an upcoming CD sometime in the future.

Secret Message Card

This is a unique card...called a Secret Message card. You open it one way and figure out how to open it the other way and you have a whole different card. This was one of the many cards on the Pazzles Greeting Cards CD that we used for our Sep. Design Team projects. If I were to make another one I would use one less cut/fold, See the prple alternating with the black...there would only be 3 alternating instead of 4. Oh...and don't put your glue in the wrong place either...yup learned the hard way!

Don't Mess With A Man And His Truck

This was my Pazzles Design Team project for August. We were supposed to design something about "Guys". I used the "kiss cut" quite a bit for the detail in the truck. I took a generic picture off the web and hand vectorized the image. The windows are made out of vellum. The grill and rims were silver metalic paper. I used a Stampin'Up tire tread wheel on the tires. All the growth under the truck was stamped with Judith & Heather stamps. The pictures I used were from the Toby Keith concert I had been to recently and Toby always has a FORD Truck front grill on his stage. The pictures were taken when he was singing "American Soldier" The title of this page has a story behind it other than Toby's pictures.....Well this summer I borrowed a friends truck to haul some molding, plumbing and general home improvement stuff. This is a work truck that stinks of working man and smoke...get my drift...yuk. The truck was my friend's "Baby". I used the truck for 6 hours driving 1.5 hours each way up and back a winding road to get the supplies needed (mind you supplies both of us needed) . I get back and proceed to get an earfull of nastiness. I had put molding through the back sliding window to fit it in the bed of the truck. (Big Sarcasm in this next sentence!) Oh My it was touching the head liner in the stinky truck! Oh was he pissed off...not even hearing that I had held down the molding with my heavy purse so it would not hit/bounce off the headliner while I drove his "Baby" . I drove that truck so carefully and nicely compared to how I beat up my jeep. Men!!! Jeez!!! Goodness sakes I would have replaced the headliner if I ripped it, but I did not, I was careful! Never, Never, Never mess with a man's truck especially if there is alcohol and a temper involved!! Also I have known this friend for over 35 years!!! ARGGHH!

Party Invite

This is an invite I did for an Open House I had this August. I actually forgot to post it...Duh ...Blond... I really love this set from Stampin' Up; Grand Soiree and the paper; Parisian Summer is perfect for it. Of Course I had to have the Open House display under my real crystal Chandelier!

Time to start posting again...

Here is the project I did for the July Pazzles Design Team.....Did I say July?? Yup we have to keep everything we do to ourselves for at least 30 days when we submit our projects and designs. This one was using the Swirls and Twirls CD that is available from Pazzles. We also had to make a matching little project to go along with the scrap page. I chose to do a small coaster book that I bound with my Coil Mac. I love the picture of my Husky sleeping on her back. She used to do that when she would sleep on my waterbed.