Monday, December 24, 2007
New TAC Catalog
TAC has released their new catalog and I hope to be holding it in my hands very, very soon!! Here's a sneak peak at the front cover for now.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm so excited to be on Christmas break. I'll be able to get to my craft desk on Wednesday- I'm ready to do some creating!! :) I've already recieved one awesome Christmas gift from a good friend of my husband and I's. I received a handmade set of drawers. It stands about 5 and a half feet tall and is about a foot and a half wide. There eight drawers (if I'm remembering correctly). We haven't brought it to our house yet. It is beautiful and I have the perfect spot for it next to my craft desk. I will post pictures of it as soon as I get it moved in.
Some exciting news- my brother just got engaged! He and his fiance arrived yesterday to spend a couple of days with all of us. They are located in Nashville, TN, right now. My dad picked them up from the KC airport at midnight on Sat. and there was a really bad snow storm. It took them six hours to get home, when it normally takes about two and a half to three hours to get home. My husband and I went to KC earlier in the day to help some friends pick up someone else from the airport. We left at 4pm and traveled through the worst part of the storm and it also took us about six hours to get home. It was very scary. Lots of cars in ditches. We had a lot of people praying that we had a safe trip home.
Well, I hope to have some paper creations to post within the next few days. I will be sure to update you on the new catalog, too!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Snowflakes
School was cancelled again today due to the ice storm that we had this past Saturday. My friend Nicole has some pictures posted on her blog- you should check them out. It's funny how ice can be so beautiful in photographs, but at the same time, so damaging. We have been blessed to have had power the entire time, but many others have been without. I pray that the crews can have things repaired soon for these people.
This was my first day in the past four days that I've felt like creating. I had a very productive day with my Etsy shop and I just finished creating some new cards for my shop. The little 3x3 card pictured above is one of them. I love to use the 3x3's as thank you's when I ship out an etsy order. They're the perfect size.
Supplies:
Ornamental Snowflakes stamp set by TAC
Thanks sentiment (TAC, not sure name of set)
green Bazzill cardstock
VersaMark ink
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Blog Candy Winner!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
This is a card that I made with one of my new sets, Perky Penguins. It's a level B hostess set. You can find it on pg. 8 of the current TAC catalog.
The colors are a mess in this picture. I tried to tweak the colors on my computer, but finally gave up. The cardstock under the stamped image is a powder blue color...just so you know. :)
I send out a monthly newsletter and usually hold some type of contest or challenge. For the November newsletter, my challenge was to design a card using this sketch by Chris Greiser. Those that followed the sketch, and also chose to use all TAC products, would be featured on my blog. The card shown here was created by my good friend, Diana S. Cute card, Diana!
If you would like to receive my monthly newsletter, please feel free to sign up. I share tips, project ideas, monthly TAC specials, hold contests and post upcoming class dates.
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Don't forget that I'll be drawing a name at 10pm tonight to see who the blog candy winner is. Good luck!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Blog Candy
Monday, December 3, 2007
Stay tuned...
Today is the day...another birthday. I'm actually not feeling 100% today, so that stinks. It's the first school day of the month, so we'll be doing new songs and poems and also be putting up the Christmas tree in class today. My kindergartners also know it's my birthday- it might be a wild day!! LOL!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Yahoo!!
I won't have anything to upload for a few more days. We are having three rooms of carpet installed today and one of those rooms contained my craft desk! With my busy schedule, it might be Monday evening before everthing is put back together.
I will give you a heads up to be watching for a little blog candy offer. Since our house sold and my birthday is Monday....I think I should celebrate a little!! What do you think?
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Color Challenge
The star image is from 'The Spirit of Christmas' and the sentiment is from 'Treasure Seeker'. It's so much fun to find a way to merge two totally different stamp sets.
Supplies:
-Black VersaFine ink, black pen
Friday, November 23, 2007
Retro Santa
Supplies:
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Coaster Calendar
Supplies:
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
8 Years
Chris is truely my best friend. I love him so much! I wasn't able to come up with a current picture of the two of us, so I thought it would be fun to add this wedding photo. Thanks for reading!!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Supplies:
Just So Sweet
Bazzill Cardstock (the blue is called Stonewash, the brown ??)
misc. blue/brown striped ribbon
white cardstock
Prismacolor watercolor pencils
Tombow blender pen, Gray Tombow pen, Black ink
pop dots
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Fun Technique
I had a chance to work at my craft desk the other night and pulled out my 'Camping' stamp set. I forgot that it had these two trees. As soon as I saw the trees, they reminded me of the 'stamping off' technique. The 'stamping off' technique allows you to achieve several shades of color from one ink pad and it also allows you to add depth to your project.
For this card, I chose to add depth to my trees. I inked my tree images with Landscape Palette ink and brushed the edges of each tree with Burnt Umber Palette ink. I firmly stamped the image onto white paper and then, without reinking, I positioned my stamp slightly higher and to the right of the first image and then stamped again. This caused the next set of trees to appear off in the distance. I continued this process across my piece of cardstock. Next, I used a kleenex to rub the Burnt Umber ink along the bottom of the white cardstock and rubbed just a little bit above the trees- just to get rid of the bright white of the cardstock.
This technique was a lot of fun. I honestly don't own very many solid image stamp sets. I tend to stick with open images that I can watercolor. It's kind of fun to step outside your comfort zone every once in awhile. I really should do this more often. :)
Supplies:
Friday, November 2, 2007
Inspiration
Rita used creams and browns for her card. The main image was stamped on a shimmery cardstock. It's even more elegant in real life.
I decided to go with Bazzill's 'lagoon' cardstock for my card. I've been using this color a lot lately. I can't speak for Rita, but for my card I stamped the background with VersaMark to create a watermark. I had planned to stamp on a cream colored piece of cs for my main image, but I didn't have the right color of ink. So I used my heat gun and clear embossing powder to achieve what is shown here.
Thanks again to Rita for her beautiful and inspiring card!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Final Farewell
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Last Chance!!!
TAC has an awesome special going on right now- Double Hostess Rewards!! If you would like to take advantage of this, please contact me! This special will end October 31st. Grab a friend, each of you place a $50 order and then split the rewards!! Also, for every $30 in merchandise, you receive 2 free Gifts With Purchase stamps!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hostess Club
This may be my only post for the rest of the week. I have Parent/Teacher conferences the next two nights and will be putting in some long hours at school. So, have a great week and thanks for reading!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Blog Candy
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Pocket Card
This is a pocket card that I've been working on for some upcoming FUNshops. As you've probably noticed, I'm a big fan of TAC's 'A Wittle Bug' set. The ladybug is so much fun to watercolor.
To make this pocket card, I started with a white envelope. I sealed the envelope shut and then used a 1-1/2" circle punch to cut a notch in one end. I cut a piece of pink cardstock slighty smaller than my envelope and punched a 1" circle from patterned paper to add a little tab. All I had left to do was embellish! It's a quick and fun card. It's not your average card and that's what makes it so much fun.
Supplies:
A Wittle Bug stamp set
Lilly Anna patterned paper
pink cardstock
white envelope
Prismacolor watercolor pencils
Black StazOn ink
black pen for doodling
QuicKutz cookie cutter nested die for pink scallop
Saturday, October 13, 2007
3 x 3 Card
This is a little 3 x 3 card that uses TAC's Oopsie Daisies stamp set. My cardbase is a 6" x 3" piece of 'Sunbeam'Bazzill cardstock. I stamped the flower image onto a 3" x 1-1/4" piece of white cs using Black StazOn ink and watercolored the images with Prismacolor watercolor pencils; blending the colors with a Tombow blender pen. I layered the white cs piece onto the front of my card base, added some green ric rac and then stamped a sentiment. Thanks for looking!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Accordion Album
Supplies
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Christmas Tag
It's time to start cranking out Christmas cards and tags! This is a tag that I'll be teaching at a workshop this week. I cut the tag with a Sizzix jumbo tag die. The stamped images are from TAC's 'Spirit of Christmas' set. It's such a fun set to use.
Speaking of tags...I've been tagged by Nancy Grant. I don't always take part in these, but I'll give this one a try.
The NAME GAME. The name of the game is to list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life, for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your middle name and game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog.
Michelle
M- Married...to my best friend, Chris. He and I will celebrate 8 yrs. in November!!
I- Intelligent...so my husband says.... :)
C- Crafty...I absolutely love to craft...always have, always will...
H- Happy...life is good and I'm so blessed
E- (can't think of a thing for 'E')
L- LadyGil...the name of my Etsy.com store
L- Loved...by my kindergarten class...I have a great bunch of kids
E- (same thing....nothing with 'E' comes to mind....)
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That was fun, Nancy. I'm not going to pass this one along...my name makes it a little difficult!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Supplies:
'Trendy Greetings' stamp set
Frutti Fusion - paper collection
Bitty Blossom
White cs, Blue 1 Matchmakers cs, 'Sunbeam' Bazzill cs and Pink 1 Matchmakers cs.
yellow brad
Thursday, October 4, 2007
FUNshop Projects
I would like to recognize two ladies that entered cards into my monthly card contest (a contest that I offer through my monthly newsletter)
Mendy Burnett submitted this cute little card with another of my favorite stamp sets, 'Wittle Bug'.
Great cards ladies!! Keep them coming!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
October Card Kit
October Card Kit
I am offering a card kit this month and I'm so excited to share it with you! Each of the cards involve paper piecing. If you love to paper piece or you've never paper pieced before, then this is the kit for you!
*$26 with stamp set
*$21 with no stamp set
*before s/h and tax
Kit Contents:
V836 Hemingway 12x12 Pattern Paper
T846 Seasonal Scribbles Stamp Set
4 sheets 'Lagoon' Bazzill cardstock
4 sheets 'Yam' Bazzill cardstock
1 sheet 'Aqua' Bazzill cardstock
5 sheets V223 Ivory cardstock
ribbon
16 white envelopes
(You will need a black stamp pad to complete these cards. I used VersaMark on the last card to create a firefly watermark and sentiment stamps on the 1st and 3rd card. These are items that you may add to your kit as an 'add-on'.)
4 Idea sheets- there's an idea sheet for each card design. The idea sheets include a color picture of the card, a supply list, and full cutting and assembly instructions.
You will be able to make 4 of each card design for a total of 16 cards. I will precut the card bases, but you will need to follow the simple cutting instructions to prepare the rest of the pieces for your cards. You will have leftover paper and a sheet of tags with the Hemingway paper pack.
**You may substitute items within the kit- for example, if you already own the Seasonal Scribbles stamp set, you may replace it with an item of similar value. Also, there are a couple more items that I used on the cards, but are not offered in the kit. These items are listed on your idea sheets for future reference and they can also be added onto your kit. I know that people may already have sentiment stamp sets or black ink....to keep the cost of the kit down I chose not to include these items. If you need anything clarified on the kit, please contact me.
The items are-
T420 'Be Authentic' stamp set $5.95
TT220 Noir (black) Palette ink $6.00
S1179 VersaMark Pad $7.95
Coluzzle Nested Square $7.95
Coluzzle Cutting mat $2.00
Coluzzle Swivel Knife $8.50
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I will not have these kits on hand. I will order the supplies for the kits as I receive orders. There will be s/h and tax when I order the supplies from TAC and then there will be an additional small shipping amount for me to ship the kit to you. I accept Paypal and personal checks. When your personal check clears, I will place your order. Please contact me if you would like a kit. Thanks for looking!!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Fall Supplement!!
Trendy Holiday Tags
T-2792 $10.95 • Set of 7
Ornamental Snowflakes
T-2796 $15.95 • Set of 9
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I had a FunShop today with a group of ladies I know from a message board I'm on (HSS). It was soooooo much fun to hang out with these ladies in 'real' life. It was their first time to see TAC products and I think they had a lot of fun making the projects! (Thanks for hosting the FunShop, Kathi!!! You're an amazing lady and you crack me up!)
I will have a busy day tomorrow after church. I'm going to finish up my October newsletter, finish samples for upcoming workshops, and then I plan to debut my October card kit here on my blog. I can't wait to share it with you!!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Coming Soon...Card Kits!
(here is a picture of the Hemingway paper)
I do need to give credit to a fellow TAC Angel, Heather Scott, for the wonderful idea of offering card kits. She does amazing work and you really need to check out her blog.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Hostess Club Sneak Peak
I'm so excited! I've been able to form two Hostess Clubs and our first 'event' will be in October. I'm scheduling two separate nights for each group of six to come to my house to draw for their hostess month and to make a project. It's going to be a fun evening! The box pictured above is just one of the SIX items that they'll be making and taking home with them that evening. The projects will feature TAC's 'Circle Sampler' stamp set. I'll be sure to post more pictures later!
Supplies-
'Circle Sampler' stamp set
'Trust in the Lord' stamp set
Ink: VersaMagic - Perfect Plumeria, Thatched Straw and Turquoise Gem
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I decided to try another design idea using the 2-5-7-10 bag idea. I used VersaMark to stamp holly leaves all over the green cardstock. You can click the picture to get a closer view. I have a feeling I'll be making a lot more of these fun bags! :)
Supplies-
'Spirit of Christmas' stamp set
VersaMark ink pad
Black StazOn
Heidi Swapp edge distresser
Gray Tombow Marker
misc. cardstock, ribbon and markers
Thursday, September 13, 2007
2-5-7-10 Bag
Well, I'm pulling out the Christmas stamps and paper. I have a couple of FUNshops coming up and the hostess' requested some Christmas themed projects. I came across a tutorial for a 2-5-7-10 box over at Taylor's blog and decided to try one out. I had made a 2-4-6-8 bag before, but I like this bag even better because it's bigger! :) I have some other plans brewing for this bag...but for now it'll work.
Supplies:
'Spirit of Christmas' stamp set
white VersaMagic Ink
misc.: white ribbon, red cardstock
Monday, September 10, 2007
And the Winner of the Blog Candy is...................
Thank you to all that participated in the blog candy drawing. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments and also getting to check out your blogs! Such talented people!!
It's been quite a day and I need to call it quits. Have a great night everyone!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Blog Candy Anyone??
I thought it would be fun to give away some blog candy. To be entered into a drawing to win the goodies shown above just leave a comment on this post. I will announce the winner on Monday evening after 9pm (central time).
The goodies consist of:
-Two handmade cards that feature TAC's Wittle Bug set and A Little Whimsy paper
-Three, 3x3 cards with cute little 3-1/8" envelopes. For this set of cards I used 'Party Time' *** (a Level A Hostess set) and Blossom Builders
-Four, 4"x4" chip board coasters
-Four, 3-1/8" square envelopes for some of your 3x3 card creations
-One embellished clip magnet (also shown below)
Good luck!!
I got this clip magnet from the office supply isle at Wal-Mart.
***Are you interested in the 'Party Time' Set? By placing a minimum order of $100 through me you can choose among the 'Party Time' set and 3 other Level A Hostess sets for FREE! Besides getting a Level A set for free, you can also choose any item from the TAC catalog and have it for 'half-price'! It can be a stamp set, ink, even the Crop-a-dile or Big Shot die cutting machine. Please let me know if you're interested! Just a reminder, you must order directly through me (not my online TAC store) in order to receive your hostess benefits. If you don't have a TAC catalog yet, feel free to browse my online store!
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I forgot to post the winner from my card challenge that I offer in my monthly stamping newsletter. The August winner was Diana Snead! Congratulations Diana!! The challenge was to use the masking technique that I shared in this post. You can view Diana's card below. Great job, Diana!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
New Cards
I designed these two cards for an upcoming school auction. A friend asked me if I'd like to donate something and I've been busy coming up with some fun stuff. I'm using Mia's Cottage 12x12 Cardstock Collection for all the projects.
I just got the o.k. from dh (dear husband) to get my Angel ECommerce site. So that means that in the future when I type something like 'Mia's Cottage 12x12 cardstock collection...' it will be a link that will take you right to the product in my TAC online store. How exciting!! I'll let you know when it's up and running.
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Hostess Club Update
The six spots for my Hostess Club are filling up fast! If you'd like to be a part of this please let me know. FYI- the person who's name is drawn to be hostess in October will earn 'Double Hostess Rewards'!!!
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Supplies (all TAC unless noted otherwise)
Car Card
Mia's Cottage patterned cardstock and reg. cardstock, p.18
'Let's Race' stamp set, p.59
2 large eyelets, Mia's Cottage Hardware, p.18
Prismacolor watercolor pencils p.122
Tombow blender pen p. 121
Sailboat Card
pink cardstock from Mia's Cottage Cardstock, p.18
misc. white and green cardstock
'Pull Up Anchor' stamp set, p.53
'Blossom Builders' stamp set, p.44
misc. pink gingham ribbon
Prismacolor watercolor pencils, p.122
Tombow blender pen, p.121
Sunday, September 2, 2007
3 x 3 Cards...Love 'em!
Supplies- (all TAC unless noted otherwise)
Hemingway 12x12 cardstock collection, p.15
Gold cardstock from Hemingway cardstock pack, p.15
sentiment from 'Tag Tidbits' stamp set, p. 76
twiggy stamped image from 'Deco Designs' stamp set, p. 19
ribbon, misc.
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Hostess Club
I plan to start a Hostess Club in October. It will be 6 people, 6 months, $20 each month. When it's your turn to be hostess your $20 will be waived so that you can use that money to take advantage of the hostess half price items! Also, if you are in one of my hostess clubs you will receive a current TAC catalog for free (if you've already purchased one from me I will give you a $5 credit), and a special discount when you take any classes that I offer. Even if you don't live near me, I'd love for you to be a part of my Hostess Club.
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Birthday Card
Supplies all TAC-
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
3 x 3 Fun
Supplies: (TAC unless stated otherwise)
Party Time - level A hostess set p. 7
Blossom Builders p. 44 (I used the small solid circle to make the background)
VersaMark ink p.118
Black StazOn ink p.118
Gray Tombow pen p.120
Tombow Blender pen p.121
Prismacolor watercolor pencils p.122
misc. cardstock
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Creating Keepsakes Convention
Several of the gals on the trip are members of the HSS message board. It was so much fun getting to meet them in real life!
The highlight of my time at the convention was meeting two Angels that were running the TAC booth. Their names are Jen Bluestein and Angela Miller and their booth was amazing!
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I've had a really late night. I've completed three sets of swap cards in two days...I should've had these done sooner, but that's how things go sometimes, right? Here is one of the cards that I'm shipping off tomorrow. I'll save the other one for later.
Supplies- (all TAC unless stated otherwise)
patterned paper from Hemingway p.15 - for the paper pieced leaf
'Lagoon' card stock from the Hemingway cardstock pack p. 15
'Sahara Sand' ink p. 118
Black StazOn p. 118
Seasonal Scribbles stamp set p. 67
ribbon and off-white cardstock misc.
Culuzzle square template for window cut-out p. 114
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Success
I also want to share that TAC is having an great special during the month of October. If you host a FunShop during the month of October you will received DOUBLE hostess rewards and those that attend your party can earn DOUBLE Gift's with Puchase. If you don't live near me and would like to have a catalog party instead, please let me know!! This is a great opportunity!
Supplies: all supplies from TAC unless stated otherwise
4 inch coaster (not TAC)
Mia's Cottage paper p.18
Misc. ribbon
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Congrats Nicole!!!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
'Circle Sampler'
I will post another 'Circle Sampler' card tomorrow. Have a great night!
Supplies:
Stamps (TAC) 'Circle Sampler' p. 84
sentiment from 'Be Authentic' p. 77
blue cardstock from DCWV Brights paper pad p. 113
white cardstock
pink ribbon
Palette Spot inks- Claret, Chartreuse, and Beaux Arts Blue p. 119
Cha Cha
Cha Cha is one of TAC's newest 12 x 12 cardstock collections! I love these vibrant colors. This fun little accordian fold book is an idea that comes from a magazine put out from Creating Keepsakes called Easy Patterns for Scrapbookers. I love this magazine! There are 136 projects created from 23 patterns. All the materials and cutting instructions are given.
Reminder!!!
Just a reminder that my Catalog Reveal party is THIS Saturday from 1-3pm. Click this link for more details!!
Supplies used for accordian book:
Cha Cha pattern cardstock from TAC p.10
red bazzill cardstock for base
bookplate (a sheet of tags and bookplates are included with the Cha Cha paper pack!)
brads and ribbon
word stamp from TAC's 'Label Words' set p. 75
flower images were cut from a sheet of the Cha Cha paper (fyi...there is a stamp set that coordinates with the Cha Cha set!! I don't have it yet, but it's on p. 10 of the new catalog!!)
Do you have a TAC catalog yet? Why not?? They are just $5 each! If you would like to purchase one please contact me!