Craft Sale

Hello Crafters! It's time for our annual Craft Sale! If your are near the West Michigan area, several demonstrators and consultants from around West Michigan will be coming together June 30 (5-8 pm) and July 1 (9-4 pm) to sell new and gently used supplies and materials for stamping, scrapbooking, beading and more! Come check out the great deals! Send me a comment or post for more information on location.

Vintage School time

I covered these clipboards a while ago with some vintage school paper and then I never finished them. Just the other day, I took the extra paper and made cards to match (so I thought I should finish the clipboards). Here are the finished cards and clipboards.

Card Creating in Ludington

I spent the day in Ludington with my friend Connie and her daughter Kerri, creating cards today (and her neighbor Barb stopped by to chat!). We got off to a slow start (partly because it was so nice out, we went shopping for a little bit and partly because we haven't "created" in a while!) But once we got going (and by 11:00 PM) we had these made. As you can see, there is no rhyme or reason to our card themes, it was more like whatever hit us to work on. Connie wanted some wedding or anniversary, so that is what inspired the bird card (that we had to take apart several times as new ideas hit us!) I think my favorites are the cupcake cards and of course the teacher in me - the apple card. Not only did I get some new ideas, I had a great time with good friends! Thanks for having me over, Connie! Let's do this again soon!

Black and Ivory

Here are some wedding cards I was working on (because Card Club was this week and that was the theme!). I used this fun "flocked" paper from the paper pack "La Creme" by DCWV (from Hobby Lobby). The black satin ribbon was from Michael's. I just stamped the sentiment (Stampin' Up) and used the scallop oval and oval punches from Marvy. The little pearl dots are self adhesive (only way to go!) from Michael's. I just had the lace laying around, so thought I would use it on a few cards. Talk about quick and easy cards!

Bird Punch

This card was made using the bird punch (Stampin' Up) and paper from the series Linen Closet (DCWV). I also used the mega scallop punch (Marvy). Very simple, just paper and punches (and a little sentiment).

Hello

Nothing special to show today, but I have been working on some new designs for my upcoming workshop this coming Wednesday. This card is another in my series "Keep it simple" (or as I also call it, using up all the paper I keep buying!). This card is actually a 12x12 piece of paper cut down to card size. And when you fold the card, the flower print is right there. I just added the little "brads" and some glitter. The "Hello" sentiment and oval punches are Stampin' Up. Again, quick and simple.

StoryTellers Club

This is the package from the StoryTeller Club kit for this month that I mentioned in my last post. I found out about this company last year at the Mega Meet Scrapbook Convention in Novi. At their booth, if you signed up for the monthly kits, you could pick 6 single kits (a two page layout of paper and embellishments) for free. There is no purchase necessary and you can preview the kits before they send them (even though I never do, I like to be surprised!). And you can cancel anytime. Last year, I cancelled after about 5 kits (going back to school time for me and I didn't think I would have time to scrapbook). I went back to the Mega Meet convention and signed up again (and yes, received 6 more packs for free!!!). As you saw in my last post, I don't only use them for scrapbooking, but card making as well. I have decided this is my new form of scrapbooking - all in a kit and ready. I spend too much money shopping all the cute stuff and then stashing it somewhere never to be found when I am actually scrapbooking! My friend Teresa understands this! Sometimes we just think of ourselves as collectors, not scrapbookers! Look at all the stuff that comes in the monthly kit! If you want to learn more, check out their site StoryTellers Club. They are offering a great special (and it includes the paper from my previous post!)

Keep it Simple

This has always been my motto - "Keep it simple!". I love the detailed, embellished cards, but I usually make very simple cards. For these cards I used cardstock from one of my StoryTellers Club kits. I have to tell you, even though I only scrapbook about two or three times a year, I still love this club of monthly scrapbooking kits. They have some of the most beautiful papers ever. Plus you get four sheets of each design in each kit (but more about that later, I will show you my most recent kit in a future post). So back to these cards. This paper was too beautiful to cover with photos, so I decided to make cards. The flower design was only in the corner, so I used that part of the paper for the cards. Love these colors together. I only added some white satin ribbon, a sentiment and some glitter glue to sparkle up the white part of the flowers.

Thank you and Good Bye

We had some sad news about our custodian the night before the last day of school (well, exciting for him, but sad for us!). He decided to take a different position with our district. He won't be our custodian any more, but we will see him periodically, as he took a district wide maintenance position. He was one of the first people I met at my new building last year, and he was extremely helpful with my move into the building all last summer. I never really thanked him for everything he did, so I made him this card (and one of the bags filled with chocolate covered cashews)and gave it to him the last day of school. I used the set "Totally Tool" (Stampin' Up). I stamped each of the tools on a colored piece of cardstock, and then colored the silver parts with a silver metallic marker (American Crafts). The background was made with the background stamp "Woodgrain" (Stampin' Up). The "screw" brads were from Hobby Lobby (Spare Parts).

End of the Year

Well, I made it through my first year of third grade! (This sounds like I am a student in third grade, well actually, I felt like the student some of the time!) I should say, I made it through teaching third grade for the first time! Here are some treats I made for my teaching neighbors. These bags are from Stampin' Up. The decorations I added are from the Simply Scrappin' set "Summer Home" (retired). I used the cardstock sticker borders and some of the small squares to make gift tags hanging off the ribbon (that I tied on the handle of the bags). The bags are filled with chocolate covered cashews (yum! I gave them all away so I wouldn't eat them!) Quick and easy gifts that I think looked rather classy! (and the point here is...whether you are a stamper, a scrapper or just like to make gifts, Stampin' Up's products can help you make these gifts quick and easy. All the colors coordinate!)

Happy Camper

Here is a little gift I made for my parent helper this year. I know the family just bought a camper and thought this would be a cute little thank you that the whole family could enjoy. I started with a take out drink carrier and covered it with pattern paper from the series "Well Worn" from the Paper Loft. The die cut sticker embellishments are from the series "Mr. Campy" from Cosmo Cricket. I put some filler in the center and then added chocolate bars, graham crackers and marshmallows. (I still need to make a matching card or tag to say "thanks").

Last Days of School

Here are a few projects I have been working on for the last few days of school. I thought these would make some fun little gifts for my teacher friends. I made a hanging post-it note holder, a set of cards, and a mini clipboard with post-it notes. The pencil was made with my Cricut machine using the "Locker Talk" cartridge. The fun ruler ribbon was purchased from Starlit Studio (online shopping).

More Graduations

Here are a few more graduation cards (these with a gold theme). Pattern paper and a little gold embossing. Gold and black paper. Very simple, very easy cards.