A Little Monkey Business

Changito and Sock Monkey that is. Here is another set of goodies that I sent out from the blog candy RAK. The stamped image is a Changito and the paper is from Daisy D's it was an 8x8 pad. I used the Cricut - Doodlecharms to cut out the cupcake shape, then I used the ScorPal to make the lines in the cupcake wrapper.

Free on Fridays

I'm going to start posting every Friday with something free that I have found on the internet or maybe something you have at home that you can use in scrapping or cards that would be free basically because you already have it. Today I have several freebies. First is summer titles from Scrap N Fonts. The next one is from Lettering Delights, it's a Father's Day card bundle and Father's Day candy bar wrappers that you can print out. While you are there you can also get a couple very cute candy bar wrappers for free too. You can sign up for newsletters from each of these companies and get emails from them when they have freebies OR...... you can just get them from me when I post them on Fridays!!

I'm really wanting to try and pick up the activity on my blog and I figure freebies are one good way. So pass the word along to your fellow friends and bloggers. : )

Color Challenge at SS

Over at Simply Scrapping there is a color challenge one for LO's and one for cards.
I found this was definitely a challenge because I really don't have a lot of blue paper. I used an acetate overlay that I attached to the blue polka dot paper. I just put glue dots behind the flower and leaf to hold it on. I really like the saying and have never heard it before. It says "To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." It's kind of funny and true too.

Cards and Altered Matchbox

This is some of the Blog RAK stuff I sent out to the ladies who signed up for it about a month ago. They should have all received their stuff by now so I won't be spoiling any of the surprise for them. I made these cards and the altered match box out of this really fun paper pack I bought at the garage sale from the LSS were I teach. I did really well and sold $212 myself and then only spent about $42 in buying other people's stuff. So I still came out ahead! There wasn't a ring on this girl's finger on this image. The way she is holding her hand and then the other two looking right at it, I thought it needed to be her showing them a ring. I just popped a small piece of bling on there and ta-da it looks like it was suppose to be that way. I used Copics to color both of these images.

This is just a little 3x3 card. These are so fun to make. Isn't this scooter too cute?!

My Little Secret is Out

I said I was going to share a secret with you and I guess it's about time. But before I do I wanted to let my Blog RAK ladies know that their goodies were sent out on Monday. Ok, now for my little secret. Well it's not really a secret it's just a little something I found out and I'm probably not the only one who know this but I'd like to think it was all my idea. ; ) Have you ever bought digital stamped images? I haven't but they are a lot less expensive than the stamp. With a few draw backs you can't just stamp anywhere you want, you'd have to print the image out and I guess then you could cut it out and put it where you want. So what about free images? Oh yes there are FREE images out there to be found, printed and colored for a beautiful stamped card. Here is one I found:
Are you sitting there saying "WHAT??!!! Isn't that a Sara Kay stamp?" Yes it is Sara Kay but it actually a coloring page I found online for free. I just reduced the size and printed it on the cardstock I usually use for my stamped images. It is colored with Copics and I didn't have any problems with the ink bleeding. So you want to know where to get these cool images? Ohhhh I bet you do!! Guess what else I found? How about some Strawberry Shortcake images, Holly Hobbie, Hello Kitty, Bratz, Barbie, Groovy Girls and just about any Disney character from any of their movies and so much more. Here are some of the coloring page sites that I found that have some great pages.

Funny Coloring - Dora, Sesame Street, Bob the Builder, Nemo, Paddington Bear, Teletubbies, Spongebob, holiday pages, Bible pages, animals and much more
The Coloring Book - This one has Sara Kay pages, Groovy Girls, Littlest Pet Shop, Minnie Mouse, Stanley, Backyardigans, and TONS more
Kids-n-Fun - Bambi, Bratz, Barbie Pippi Longstocking, Cars, just way too many to list.
The Coloring Spot

You can also check out clipart. Of course, you need to make sure these are royalty free and all that good stuff. Sorry, I don't know all the rules of uses images.
Clipart ETC

I mentioned one of my favorit bloggers the other day Mel Stampz well she posted something about this about a week or so ago. So HERE is her post about some freebies she found and also some free images she has on her blog.

There I did it! I shared my secret. I may never have to buy another stamp again!! Yeah, right!! I hope you like this info and find it as awesome as I do. Also feel free to share this information with all your fellow stampers and I would love a link back here to this post. You know, so they too can show me some love. : )

SU Tag Punch Idea

One of my favorite blogs is Melz Stamps. She is so ultra talented and comes up with the most incredible ideas. She puts so much detail in each project she does. This is just one little quick tip that she had for using your SU tag punch.
Isn't that brillant?! I love the idea and will definitely be trying this sometime. Be sure to check around her blog for all the templates, techniques and ideas that she has. You could spend hours just browsing the wealth of information that she has on her blog.

I hope to post another great idea in the next day or two. It's one of the those ideas that you think "Do I really want to share this with the world or keep it my own little secret?" But I do want to share it with my readers which I know are few but I do appreciate those of you who do come to see what I've been up to so I will pass on this golden nugget to you. Hmmmm....are you curious yet? : ) Have a wonder Memorial Day!

MME Penny Lane Papers

Here is a LO I did from a sketch off Simply Scrapping. It's sketch #15 and you can find all the sketch from Simply Scrapping HERE. I used My Minds Eye - Penny Lane paper - just the patterned paper also the "our family" title and paper flower on top. I loved this paper and had plenty left over so I made cards using the rest of it. I think I used up just about every last little scrap of it.
The sentiments - thanks a bunch, hi there and happy birthday all came from a package I got on clearance at Target in their card dept. They already had pop dots on them. I just rounded the corners and inked them. The colors went great with this paper and I didn't have to use any stamps on them. The Thank you card above is a 4x4 card and the Hi There below is a 3x3 card.On the happy birthday one below the bird also is part of the MME Penny Lane series. It is a clear acrylic piece. I backed it with the green paper and adhered it with glue dots behind the eye and on the tail so you can't even see how it is attached.

I can't remember the size the the "hello" card below. I used Copics to color the image and sanded the heck out of all the paper and even over the image.

This last one is my favorite. I used Copics to color the image. I ended up totally screwing up the grass area. I still can't figure out out to make it look right. So I just put a big ole' flower on one side and the corner punch on the other. You would never now the icky mess that lies beneath. : ) The "thinking of you" was just a rub on that I had.

Twilight with Cheeseburgers??

I have become a HUGE fan of the Twilight series. I could go on and on about it but I just had to share this video. I laughed all the way through it.

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

A couple of weeks ago we had teacher appreciation day and I'm the homeroom mom for the special ed class that has one teacher and an aid. Here are the snack baskets that I put together for them from the class. I had fun putting these together because I got to use my new Scor Pal. The little box with the truffles I made and HERE is the pattern I used for it. I had a little trouble with the cellophane but just ended up wrapping it like a present and taped the sides. I was in a hurry and didn't get a chance to look around for much for the cellophane. I just bought a roll of it at Target in the gift wrap section. I barely used any of it for these. Now I'm going to have to find some more projects to use this stuff for because I have a lot of it.

Below is a water bottle with Crystal Light packets. I put a whole box of the mixes in this pouch and HERE is the template I used. The only thing is that this template uses a scalloped card from SU for the front and I didn't have any of those. I ended up just making the front on my own. I used my Friskars punch to cut the scallops and then folded it down then just copied the measurements from the other piece to make it work. After I made these I found another tutorial to make these and this one is a little simpler and holds just one packet very nicely. HERE is the link for that one.

I also included 3 packages of microwave popcorn. There isn't a template for this. I just stacked the popcorn up and folded the paper around it. I did attach the popcorn together with repostionable tape so the stack wouldn't fall over. Once I figured out where the folds would be I used my new favorite tool the Scor Pal to make the creased. I also used a coordinating band of paper around the middle about 2" wide then wrapped it with tulle and then tied a small piece of ribbon in the middle of it to give it just a little more color.

This last box holds 2 boxes of gum. You could put all sorts of stuff in this. HERE is the template for this box. I really hope to get to do more of the stuff. It was fun. Maybe this will inspire you to go and make something for someone you'd like to show your appreciation.

Messy Scrap Room

Over on Cafemom in the scrap group that I help admin. we are doing an organizing challenge for our scrap spaces. Whether it be a room, closet, corner or just totes. To start we were to take pics of our area "as is" and post them. I went one better and video taped it. I actually did it using my camera. This is my very 1st video that I have posted on YouTube and of all things it's my messy scrap room! Oh well! A Memory to Scrap is having a garage sale on May 16th and I have bought a table to sell all the stuff I'm ready to get rid of. So far, I've gone through all my 12x12 paper and this is what I weeded out to sell. Crazy isn't it! But this is several years of collecting this paper.



So during my reorganizing of the paper I came up with an idea for organizing my scrap paper that I want to use for cards. Soooooo I made another video. I used the Small Wonder RCA video camera that we have and was able to shoot this one to show my idea. You know this is kind of fun. A lot of work, but fun. I'm thinking about maybe doing tutorial or project videos. Hmmmmm..... I'll be thinking over that one. I know I love watching scrap videos and there are a TON out there so I'm not sure if I have anything new to offer so we'll see. Anywho, I hope this organizing tip helps out. If you do have any organzing questions please feel free to ask me. I really enjoy organizing and also enjoy helping others. I mean I enjoy organzing so much that I WILL go and actually help you organize if you are close enough. I've helped friends and family organize closets, pantries and rooms.

Finished - Thanks ladies!

Does anyone else want to participate on this? I thought this was a fun idea and thought others would too. Oh well. I'll give this another week and see what happens. Hey can someone please tell me how you leave a post on top, even with new posts? I'm sure it's something easy but I haven't figured it out.

Blog Candy RAK
This is a RAK that I found on kristi's blog. The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Could be a card, an altered object or something else altogether!Now for the RULES:1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make but I hope you will!2. What I create will be made with you in mind, I will look to your blog to find out more about you! I'll take hints if you want to leave them. ; )3. I will create your item as my schedule allows...in a timely manner but not tomorrow..lol..So only sign up if you are willing to wait a bit. : o)4. There is a catch - you must offer this same blog candy on your blog! Let me know you're in, email me your address to diane.davies@yahoo.com, then re-post this on your blog (you can change the wording) and offer something you make - your choice - to the first 5 people who respond to your post. Add my name to the #1 slot on your list - I am your first participant. When you create your giveaway, you will become the first participant on the lists for the people who participate with you. Got it? :-)
1. Kristi @ Our Scrapbook Memories

2. Judith

3. Tracey

4. ERICA

5. Amanda N

Carving Pumpkins

Halloween was 6 months ago but hey that's not too bad for me. At least it didn't take me a year to scrap this. Believe me I have things from several years ago that I haven't even started on. This is sad to say but this was the first pumpkin my kids have ever carved. : O I know, bad mom! They got these pumpkins from their field trip from school so we ended up carving them the night before Halloween. They had a friend over (Isabel - the blonde girl) so she helped out with it. I just watched and took a ton of pics. It was my idea to have the pumpkin "throw up". hehe Austin loved it.

Blog Candy RAK

This is a RAK that I found on kristi's blog. The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Could be a card, an altered object or something else altogether!

Now for the RULES:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make but I hope you will!

2. What I create will be made with you in mind, I will look to your blog to find out more about you! I'll take hints if you want to leave them. ; )

3. I will create your item as my schedule allows...in a timely manner but not tomorrow..lol..So only sign up if you are willing to wait a bit. : o)

4. There is a catch - you must offer this same blog candy on your blog! Let me know you're in, email me your address to diane.davies@yahoo.com, then re-post this on your blog (you can change the wording) and offer something you make - your choice - to the first 5 people who respond to your post. Add my name to the #1 slot on your list - I am your first participant. When you create your giveaway, you will become the first participant on the lists for the people who participate with you. Got it? :-)

1. Kristi @ Our Scrapbook Memories
2. Judith
3.
4.
5.

Plant Kindness

I made this card for a challenge over at Simply Scrapping. I used orange, blue and green stickles on the flowers, leaves and the bird. Part of the challenge was to use a sticker. I don't use stickers much, especially on cards but I found this one and thought it went well with the image. In case you can't read it, it says "he who plants kindness gathers love". That's a pretty good motto to live by.

I want to wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter.

Altered Match Boxes

How stinkin' cute are these?!! I bought these little match boxes at the CK convention last year. They were plain white. Just last week, I rec'd a swap that had a box like this, all decorated and held some brads, buttons and stuff in it for a hostess gift. I loved it. So I knew now what I was going to do with the ones I had been holding on to. Oh yeah, btw the swap had been sent to me by mistake, I wasn't the hostess for that swap but I was participating in it. So I ended up having to mail it to the host. I sooooo wanted to keep the hostess gift because it was so adorable. But I didn't. : (

Zebra Box

I made this box using only two 12x12 sheets of paper. You want to be sure to use the thick paper to help you box be sturdy. I used paper from Glitz called Sparrow Zebra and Sparrow Stain Paper which is a thick double sided paper.

This box will hold a post it note block perfectly. Great gift idea!

Here are the instructions for the box and cover.
Origami Box Diagram SCS TLC203.pdf, 45 KB
Origami Box and cover Instructions.doc, 28 KB

Hello! Sketch Challenge

Here is a sketch challenge that I did for Simply Scrapping. I really like how this one turned out. I used Copics and Bic markers to color the image. The paper is from The Paper Studio and it's called Pink Armadillo paper pack. I love this paper pack so much I had to decorate the inside of the card too.

Simply Scrapping Design Team

Not sure why it's taking me so long to post this because I'm super duper excited about it but I made the Design Team for Simply Scrapping. This is a fairly new online store but the owner, Judy, has been selling scrapbooking items on Ebay for over 7 years . Along with the store she also started an online community also called Simply Scrapping. You should come on over to the community and join in. It's still small so you won't be lost in a huge group. There are some talented ladies on there and we love to share our work and learn new things. If you join, be sure to tell them I sent you! Hope to see you there!

Spring Fever

Pink Persimmon is having a "Spring Fever" challenge on their blog. This card is what I was feeling yesterday because it got so warm, temp was up to 80 degrees. I was riding around with the windows down and the warm air blowing in my hair. Ok, so my hair isn't black or long nor do I have a convertible but you get the drift. : ) I used Copics to color the image. Now I'm ready for summer!!

Scrappy Boy!

I have been wanting to make a mini album with toilet paper rolls. So I have been collecting a few empty tp rolls. Austin kept seeing them laying around and asking what I was keeping them for. He wanted one to play with and this is what he made. He had the idea to put the yellow on the bottom so the tag wouldn't fall out and also to punch a hole and put ribbon (he said string but of course I had ribbon) in the hole. I helped him cut the tag out but that is about it. He wrote "Army Army Army Austin!" on the tag. I asked him why he put Army on the tag and he said because he is Army Austin. I'm so proud of my scrappy boy!