Michelle Zindorff Brayer Class

I got the chance last month to do one of Michelle Zindorff's brayer classes in Moore, OK. I live in Broken Arrow near Tulsa about 2 hours from Moore but my sister lives in Moore. It worked out that the weekend I was going to my sisters was the same weekend Michelle was having one of her classes there. It was only about 2 or 3 miles from where my sister lives. I was able to get in at the last minute to her beginner but all the advanced classes were full.

The class I took was on Sunday morning. It just so happened that there were only 3 of us in the class. Michelle said that it was very unusual for a class not to fill up. I'm guessing it was because it was on a Sunday morning and Oklahoma is in the Bible belt so probably everyone was a churh. Which is where I would have been if Ihad been a home. : ) The other 2 ladies that were in the class were also from Tulsa. Having such a small class meant Michelle could just sit there at the end of the table and not have to stand and walk around to everyone. We got individualized attention and she had 3 giveaways which meant we each got one. What we got were her demo cards that she made or the class. So I have an original Michelle Zindorff picture. : ) I may have to frame it and hang it in my craft room.

So here are the cards that I made in class. This is the order that we made them.
Not bad, huh? It's basically learning the technique that Michelle has perfected in using the brayer. Now I need to practice, practice and practice some more.On this second card I ended up having some black smudges on it so that is why the birds are there. Michelle didn't have birds on hers. The birds looked bette then the smudges. ; )
Now as of yet I have not tried to make any more using her techniques but I really hope to VERY soon. Michelle called me the "Whimpy Stamper"! Well, I kind of was too. After just a short time of using the brayer my arm/shoulder was hurting. I asked if we would be sore from this and she looked at me kind of funny and said "No". I asked the other 2 girls if it hurt them and they said no also. So that is where I got the label "Whimpy Stamper". My shoulder has been hurting for a long time when I do activities that move my arm back and forth like that. I finally went to the doctor just yesterday and she thinks it's my rotater cuff. I got a steriod shot in my arm, some anti-inflamatories to take every day and a couple of excerices to do to strengthen the rotater cuff. I go back to the doctor in about 4 weeks. I hope this helps because it has really intereffered with me doing thing. Cooking, cleaning and even scrapping hurts so I knew it was time to do something.

It's Christmas Eve and I wanted to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

SSDS - Sketch Challenge

At Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday blog this week is a sketch challenge. Because of the Christmas holiday this week's challenge will be open for 2 weeks. All you have to do is follow the sketch and make your card. This is my take on the sketch. I used Copics to color the image and I think the paper is Bo Bunny but not 100% sure. I used Dew Drops on the bottom edge.

Here is the sketch to use for the challenge. It was designed by our very own DT - Carlie.

You have 2 weeks for the challenge so go on over to SSDS and check out what the other DTs did and enter your own card. The sponsor for this week's challenge is Paper Temptress.

SSDS - Shaped Card Challenge (Ornament Card)

Not that you probably missed me but I was unable to participate in last week's challenge over at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday challenge blog. My computer got a nasty virus and my hubby took it in but just for the "free" cleaning and didn't clean the virus off. It's really strange when I try to Google something it gives me the list of sites to check and then when I check them it gets hijacked and goes to these weird places. Anywho, enough about my computer problems let's get on with the challenge this week at SSDS. The challenge is to create a shaped card any shape except square or rectangle.
I will show you what I did that worked first then I'll move on to the diaster. : O I made an ornament card.
This wasn't my intention. At first it was going to just be a round card or roundish. There had to be a flat side where the back could stay attached. So what I did was take my very old Creative Memories circle cutters system and cut a large circle on a folded piece of white cardstock. I hung the circle pattern over the cut edge of the paper so there would be an area that stayed together. I hope that makes sense. I didn't take a pic of what I'm talking about. Then I cut the smaller size circle in red and layered it on top.

I had already colored the image (Lilly from The Pink Cat Studio) with Copics. Added the background paper and sentiment then went to put it on the card. It ended up fitting better having the opening at the top. When I held it that way I thought hey that looks like an ornament. So I made it into an ornament.
I had this golden yellow paper that already had a scalloped edge so I just cut it off to make the top of the ornament. Then I took 2 circle punches and punched out what looks kind of like the ring to hold the hanger and attached it to the back of the card. I think I did pretty good considering I changed plans in the middle of making the card. : )

Now on to my diaster! I had printed out a ginerbread and snowman digi to the far right of my page then folded it in half and cut it out. It looks ok but I could tell I should have used thicker paper. I colored it with Copics and then added white Liquid Applique to make it look like fluffy white trim. So this doesn't look too bad right?

Well open up the card and see the diaster inside!!! ICKY!! Of course, Copics bleed through so why wouldn't you see this on the inside then the back side of the card I tried to outline to make it look better and well as you can see that didn't work.

I'll probably just cut off the back and use the front on another card. Here is the snowman I made and cut out but didn't end up coloring. The concept is good but my execution didn't quite make it.

Now back to the challenge over at SSDS, go over and check out what cool shaped cards the other DT's made then go make one yourself and enter it in the challenge. The winner this week will receive some goodies from Victoria Case who is sponsoring our challenge.

Baby card and Gift

I've had people ask me many times if I sell the stuff I make and the answer has always been no. Well I finally decided I'm going to start selling some of my things and take specific orders. I already have sold some cards and have an order for some Christmas cards and I'm making 2 scrapbook albums for Christmas gifts. I may have gotten in over my head on those but I'll let you know when I'm done.

This is a card and paper bag album for a baby gift. I made it for the lady who cuts my hair. It's for one of her customers and in exchange she will give me credit towards the services she gives me. I'm also going to be doing a scrapbook album for a trip she is going to be taking.

This is only the second paper bag album I've made but I enjoy doing these. I think they are fun and pretty easy to make. All the paper in this project and for the card is from Fancy Pants, it's called "Little Sprout".

She knew the baby was going to be a boy so when I found some pink in the paper I tried to cover it up. Like with the brown flower at the bottom. Yes you can use flowers on boy's pages, especially when they are babies. It may get harder as they get older but when they are young, go for it.

I just used 2 paper bags for this ablum so that made for 2 opening that I had for pull out tabs.

I used ribbon to connect the bags together instead of rings because it made it less bulky and that way she could toss it in her purse for a take along brag book.

I have thought about opening an Etsy shop to sell my cards but I just don't know if I want to deal with shipping or not. I like doing thing local so there is no shipping involved. Who knows maybe I can make enough to support my own scrapping addiction. ; )

SSDS - Christmas Card Challenge

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! To continue with the holiday spirit this weeks challenge at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday challenge blog is to make a Christmas themed card.

I did a card that was very easy to make. I bought some of these vintage looking gift tags after Christmas last year on major clearance. All I did was stamp the sentiment at the bottom of it and double matted it. I used some Dew Drops to cover the little whole where the string was, added some patterened paper, a flower and some ribbon and that's it.

Now if you plan on making any Christmas cards at all you might as well do one this week and enter it in the challenge at SSDS. The Cutting Cafe is sponsoring our challenge once again this week so if you are the lucky winner you will be receiving some goodies from their store. Be sure to check out all the other Christmas cards that our DT's did also.

Kaitlyn and the Possibilites!

My daughter, Kaitlyn on the first day of school this year. She is 9 years old, is in third grade and has Down sydrome. This has absolutely nothing to do with scrapping or stamping but everything to do with my life. I just watched this video and had to share it. It's about 25 minutes long so be prepared if you are going to watch. This may give you just a little insight into my life some of the joys of having a child with special needs. Oh it has it's challenges too and kids with DS aren't all happy go lucky like people think they are but this video shows a very positive aspect of DS.

SSDS - Flower Pot Card

There is a fun challenge going on at Scrap, Stamp and Dooodle Saturday challenge blog. It's to make a Flower Pot card. It really isn't hard to make at all. HERE is a tutorial on how to make them.I did not do a good job on the pictures. I should have put this on a white background since there is so much brown in the card. I would have retaken the pictures but I already mailed the card out to my neice for her birthday.
I put a little notch at the bottom on the card pull out and slipped a gift card in there. You should really give this card a try. It's easy but yet impressive when it's done. Also go check out SSDS and see what the other DT's did with their flower pot cards. This week's challenge winner will win some digi images from Dustin Pike's Doodle Dragon Designs.

New Moon!!!

I am so excited about New Moon! I have never been this obsessed or ga-ga over any movie, book or character before. I feel like a teeny bopper I'm so giddy. I just found out about this Twilight stamp set and HAD to have it. Paid probably waaaay too much for it but I could not resist. I've hear this is rare and hard to find and the store I bought this from said it was their last one and they wouldn't have any more. So this was meant to be for me. : )

I'm not going to the midnight movie but have plans to go on Sunday with some friends. I don't like watching movies in crowded theaters and plus midnight is too late for this old lady. hehehe In case you haven't seen the extended preview for New Moon check this out.
This is a music video for Shattered but this song is not on the New Moon soundtrack. I know because I already bought it. : ) But it's a good song and there are some scenes in this I hadn't seen before.


I liked this. hehe I enjoy watching parodies of Twilight and New Moon. Did you see SNL do the "Franks" instead of the Cullens? Too funny!

D-IC Sketch Challenge

The challenge this week at Digital-Ink Co. challenge blog is a sketch from Card Patterns.

The images on this are from it's call the Thank You Sentiment pack. Does this look familiar? This was part of the same images I also used the same paper which is from DCWV - LaCreme.

I pop dotted the image and sentiment on top. I used some of these ribbon beads I had to make it look like a ladies hand this time. I wanted to add a ring but couldn't get it to look right. This was so easy because there is no coloring well I did color in the butterfly but that didn't take long at all.

Try your hand (oops sorry - no pun intended hehehe) at this sketch. Check it out at D-IC Challenge Blog and see what our other creative designers did too. As always the winner will something special from Digital-Ink Co.

Thankful for Friends of Faith ~ SNR Blog Hop

This post will stay on top until noon on Monday, November 16th. Please scroll down to see more recent posts.

Welcome, today we're out in force on the internet -- showing our faith and giving the glory to God. United, we stand as Christian paper crafters and blog owners to make a presence on the internet for all to see. We're celebrating the theme of friends and we're happy to share our projects with you based on the verse:

"Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,

his friend can help him up. "

Ecc4:9-10a

You should have just arrived here from Maria Matter - Joyful Stamper. If not you will want to start at the beginning of the hop which is at A Faith Perspective. Layers of Color Stamps, Gina K Designs Stamps and Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, together with SNR Magazine have donated some wonderful prizes for today's blog hop. (See prizes and how to win at the bottom of this post.)

As soon as I heard about this hop I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I am so blessed to have some wonderful Christian friends in my life. I've recently had several conversations with my friends about how great the people in Oklahoma can be. I think we came down to the fact it is because we live in the Bible Belt and that plays a big part in how friendly the people are around here. I live in Tulsa, which has been called The Buckle of the Bible Belt. I use to complain about the weather around here and wished I lived somewhere else but the older I get the more I appreciate and come to realize I'm just where God wants me to be. If you are not familiar with Oklahoma weather, Will Rogers said it best, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, stick around a while and it will change." It is not uncommon to see the "high" and "low" temperature predictions for a day spread out over a thirty-degree temperature range or the "high" temperatures on one day being forty degrees hotter than on the next day. A Saturday may bring temperatures of sunny eighty-degree weather, followed by a stormy Sunday and a snow-falling Monday. Probably a little more than you wanted to know about Oklahoma weather. : ) Sorry, I got off track. hehe Back to my wonderful friends!! Besides the friends I have here, I have also have met many online Christian crafters too. I love when I come across a blog and can tell right away they are a Christian. So to all my Christian friends here and online THANK YOU!!!

Here is a lunch sack card that I made and will give to one of my dear friends.

I just made a card very similiar to this about a week ago. I used the same papers and really liked the colors so decided to use them again it's from My Minds Eye ~ Out and About. The image if from Stamping Bella and I used Copics to color it. I also went over the sentiment with the same Copics. The coffee came from a women's conference I went to about a month ago where Jennifer Rothschild spoke. She is amazing! This is some coffee that they sale and it's called "Girlfriend" blend coffee. I don't drink coffee but I have plenty of friends who do.

Thanks so much for dropping by and now you are off to Karla Kellum - Life Song Kreations.

To enter, simply hop to the blogs of all of the participating staff members of SNR Magazine, take note of the staff member's name, and leave a comment on their posts. Then send an email to games@scrapbooknewsandreview.com listing each of the staff members who participated in today's hop. All entries must be received by Monday, November 16, 2009 at 12 noon, EST and three winners will be randomly chosen to win.

PRIZES ARE:
One $100 gift certificate from Layers of Color Stamps & a 6 month subscription to SNR Magazine.
One basket of goodies -- four stamp sets from Gina K Designs & a 6 month subscription to SNR Magazine.
One set of digital stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps & a 3 month subscription to SNR Magazine.
In addition, every participating staff member of SNR Magazine will offer a free one-month subscription to the magazine to one of their lucky visitors by simply leaving a comment on their blog.

SSDS - Sketch Challenge - Fresh Brewed Designs

This week at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday challenge blog is a sketch challenge. Our sponsor is Fresh Brewed Designs. She has some fun digi stamps and we got to play with some for this challenge.

I used Tom Turkey for my image. I think it's so funny that the turkey is drinking coffee. Doesn't seem too worried that Thanksgiving is almost here. : ) Joemamma at Fresh Brewed Designs says he's planning his escape. I colored the image with Copics and just printed out the sentiment. The patterned paper is Beautiful Leaf Life from Bo Bunny.

See what you can do with this sketch and enter the challenge at SSDS. Also, check out what the rest of our talented DT's did with the sketch and Fresh Brewed Designs images. The winner of this weeks challenge will win some digi images from Fresh Brewed Designs .

New Release Day at Digital-Ink Co.!

It's finally here! New Release day at Digital-Ink Co.!! Here is the card that I have been giving you sneek peeks on this week. The images on this are from Stamping Dragon Designs. There are several images in this set that you can mix and match. I am LOVING the pointing hand. I can see using this with all sorts of images and sentiments.

I used just a little bit of black colored pencil to fill in some of the areas of the sentiment. If I was using a card with more colors I'd probably use one of the accent colors from the paper to make the sentiment pop. I just bought this paper from Hobby Lobby, 1/2 off of course! It's from DCWV, La Cre'me paper stack. The black at the bottom on the paper is velvet and I used a velvet ribbon for it too. Very simple card and easy to make yet I think it makes quite a statement.

Check out all the other new releases at Digital-Ink Co. store and go to the D-IC Challenge blog and see what the other DT's did with their new release images.

Sneek Peek and Top Picks II

Back with one more last Sneek Peek until the New Release tomorrow at Digital-Ink Co. Have you figured out what it is yet?

I'm also going to list a few more of my own Top Picks from Digital-Ink Co. store. This month at DIC the featured creator is Angela of Sewn Together which means any of her images are 30% off this month.

Check out one of my favorite images of hers called Toga birthday. Wouldn't this be great for a belated birthday card, you could say you were just a little slow at getting to it. : )
Another creator at the store is Jules Junk. I love this Blast Off stamp set. Great for a kids birthday or to use for a scrapbook page.

The last of my Top Picks for today is from Reece's Designs. She has a line of Lucy stamps which I think are adorable. Pilgrim Lucy is perfect for your Thanksgiving cards.

Hope you've enjoyed my Top Picks and Sneek Peeks this week. Tomorrow is the BIG reveal.

Sneek Peek and Top Picks

Yesterday you got a sneek peek at one of the new releases that Digital-Ink Co. is going to have soon. Well here is one more sneek peek.

I also wanted to highlight just a couple of the images from the store that I really like. Each of the creator at Digital-Ink Co. have their own style and bring something different. Judy with M&M Designs and the store's owner has a lot of victorian images for all you vintage fans. Here is one of them I really like, it's called Vintage Bonnet 2.
Wouldn't that make a great vintage Easter card or Mother's day card. Oh or a birthday card for your grandma.

Another designer that has a great image I like is Stitchy Stamps. Stitchy is a huge fan of Twilight and so am I. You couldn't tell from my side bar or anything. hehe Well she drew up these fun vampy images of Edward and Bella. I think this is what I think Edward and Bella would look like as kids and after Bella has "changed". : ) She also has some great silhouette images too.

Speaking of Stitchy, my online Twilight buddy! She left me this blog award on her blog. Isn't she a sweetie?! Thanks Stitchy. : )

Tomorrow I will reveal another sneek peek and a couple more of my top picks at D-IC.

Digital-Ink Co. ~ Quote Challenge and Sneek Peek

The challenge this week for Digital-Ink Co. challenge blog is a quote challenge. That's pretty easy. Just use a quote on your project. It can be any project and any colors just use a quote. So for my quote I used "Friends are the flowers in the garden of life." But I don't know who said it and doesn't look like anyone else does either. I Googled it, which I love to Google : ) and it isn't credited to anyone just says anonymous.

The image I used if from Lil Diva Designs called Emily. I used Copics to color the image and I also traced the sentiment with my Copics. The paper is from My Minds Eye ~ Out and About.

Be sure to enter this very easy challenge over at Digital-Ink Co. Challenge Blog for your chance to win this fun digi image from Lil Diva Designs called Sids House. Also check out what the other DT's used for their quotes.

Now before I go I have a little sneeky peeky for you! Digital-Ink Co. is having their first official New Releases coming this Thursday, November 12th. So each day until then I'm going to do a little Sneek Peek of the images I got to play with and all will be revealed on Thursday.

SSDS - Special Fold Card Challenge

This week the challenge at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday challenge blog is "Special Folds Card". There are so many different ways to make a card than the standard fold in half. I used the Joy Fold and found the instructions HERE.

I used an old paper pack that I had from Making Memories. All the patterned paper and sentiments were in the pack. I didn't have to stamp a thing. This card was so easy to make I just got on a roll with my paper pack and made 2 more. : )

Go check out SSDS and see what the other DT's did for their special folds and then enter your own creation in the challenge for chance at the prize.