Washer Necklaces and an Announcement!

This is one of the cutest ideas I've seen!!! I love it!! I don't know who came up with it, but I've seen them in several different places!!! Don't you just love them????? Now, on to the announcement!

I've started a new blog that is going to be just tutorials! I thought this would be a great way to keep all the tutorials in one place and it would make it easier to find what you are looking for!! The site is http://henhousestampin.blogspot.com/! And guess what! I made a video tutorial on how to make these necklaces!!! So go check it out and let me know what you think!!!

Splitcoaststampers

Knock Knock Knock........HelloooooooOOOoooooooo? Is anyone out there???? I can't get onto Splitcoast!!! Is it just me? Can anyone hear me?? Leave me a comment if you do and let me know!! I might die if I don't get to see what everyone is chatting about!!!

I feel a panic attack coming on! Where's my paperbag????????

UPDATE!! It's back! Oh thank goodness!! I was close to passing out!

A Simple Card and an update

Well, my husband went to the doctor yesterday because he was still sick. He has been sick for over a week now! The doctor said it sounded like a parasite that is common to this area! So, he got a prescription and should be better soon!! Thank goodness! Poor thing has barely eaten in over a week! Now, on to a card!

I decided to make an easy card today! This is a super simple layout that I tend to to use a lot and can be used with so many different stamps!!! I love this color combination too!

Supplies: Kraft, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Whisper White Cardstock. Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Real Red, Versamark Inks. Fun and Fast Notes, Canvas Background Stamps. Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Antique Brass Brads.

Stay tuned for more fun cards!

YUCK!!!

We've been kneeling at the porcelain throne for the past week or so! In other words, we've had a stomach bug running rampant through our house! Hopefully we will be over it soon and I can start posting again! I've been too busy tending to sick kids and my sick husband to keep up with the blog right now! If you will check out Julie Buhler's blog she has a video tutorial for the last post I made! You can check it out here! I found that she had made a video, thankfully before I was able to finish mine! I also found my camera! It's been missing for about 2 or 3 weeks!!! I promise to get busy posting again soon! I have swaps I received that I plan to show you! Sorry for not keeping up!! Stay tuned!

Wow!!!

All I can say is wow to this technique!!! I read on Julie Buhler's blog how to use your stampin' write markers to get the look of the Oh so EXPENSIVE copic markers! So I tried it out and I planned to make a video tute, but the camera battery died halfway through the video! I am charging it as I type and plan to video it again and hopefully I can get that up sometime Monday or Tuesday!! But for now, here are some photos of the results!!

I will post more details when I post the video........coming to a blog near you!!!

Thank you Easter bunny!!!

Happy Easter everybody!!! We have eaten WAY too much candy and should be on a sugar high for the next week!! I hope everyone had a great Easter!

I am working on a new video tutorial for y'all! I should have it ready soon and will post it as soon as I can! I also have been putting together a site for blog banners, watermarks, and signatures!! If you are in need of any of those, go check it out at http://www.customwatermarks.blogspot.com/!!! Please remember that I've only just started it, so I don't have a ton listed yet!! I'm off for now! I need to go spend what little bit of the day is left with my family!

Free Wheelin' Promotion!!!!!

Check out the latest promotion from Stampin Up! Buy one of the 6 pre-selected stamp sets included in the promo and get the coordinating jumbo wheel ($8.95 value) for free!!! There's no limit on how many bundles you can get!! How great is that?

Free Wheelin' Promotion
If you haven't experienced the fun, ease, and versatility of our Stampin' Around wheels, now is your chance. From March 18 through April 30, when you buy a pre-selected stamp set, you'll receive the coordinating wheel absolutely FREE!

Wonderful You bundle pg 91 Includes Wonderful You stamp set and free Stems & Silhouettes jumbo wheel $33.95

Life's a breeze bundle pg 80 Includes Life's a Breeze stamp set and free Something Fishy jumbo wheel $29.95

Pun Fun bundle pg 66 Includes Pun Fun stamp set and free Sweet Stars jumbo wheel $30.95

Year after Year bundle pg 60 Includes Year after Year stamp set and free See You Around jumbo wheel $30.95

Stitched Exotics bundle pg 83 Includes Stitched Exotics stamp set and free It's Beautiful jumbo wheel $33.95

Enjoy Every Moment bundle pg 51 Includes Enjoy Every Moment stamp set and free Daisy Dash jumbo wheel $29.95

You can view the complete Spring Summer catalog by clicking on the picture on the left! Contact me at melanie@stampadoodledoocreations.com to place an order!

Inspiration!

First off, I'm sorry for being such a slacker! I really have been super busy! Five kids tend to keep ya a little busy! AND I lost my camera again! I've had to resort to using my 14 year olds' camera and she doesn't like to share with me!

I went to my in-laws house last night and we were looking through some old magazines my mother-in-law wanted me to look at to see if I wanted any of them. There was a gift bag under the pile of magazines that I LOVED!!!!! She let me have it because I loved it so much! Well, of course the first thing I thought of when I saw the bag was that it would be super cute as a card!! I'm posting a picture of the bag and then after that is the card I made to look like it!! Feel free to play along and make a card with the bag as your inspiration and then come leave a comment with a link back to a picture of your card so I can go check it out!!!! I used a rub-on from sale-a-brations for the sentiment!

Supplies: Yo yo yellow, tempting turquoise, pink passion, pixie pink, green galore basic black, whisper white cardstock. Rub-on sentiment, Apple green 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon (retired).

Monogram Notecard Set

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday, so I decided to make her a set of monogrammed notecards! I hope she likes them!! I will give them to her tonight at dinner! I made them using Stampin up Kraft, Rose Red, and Bayou Blue Cardstocks. The patterned paper are from My Minds Eye. I printed the monogram and her name using the computer! I punched the circles using a 1 1/2 inch circle punch. I sponged around the circle with chocolate chip to give the monogram a little more definition! The notecards measure 51/2x41/4 and the box measures 4x6!

These are notecards to go inside of a matching box.

Matching box with notecards inside.

Close up of box and cards!!

To make the box I first trimmed a piece of Kraft cardstock down to 9x8. I then scored the paper starting with the 9 inch side 4 inches in from each side.....this leaves a 1 inch space between the score lines. Turn you paper and score the 8 inch side 1 inch in from each side. Cut the 2 center lines right up to the 1 inch score lines and this will give you little tabs and sides to your box. Then just fold on the score lines making sure to fold up the little tabs first and use super duper sticky tape, otherwise known as red line tape. See photos below if you need a visual.

You could alter this and add ribbon handles to look like a purse or make a lid for it. I'll figure the measurements to make a lid later.....I've got to get ready for dinner tonight.....Mexican YUM!!!!

New stamps Part Deux!

I showed you a card yesterday made with Essence of Love that is available in the mini-catalog and today I have another card made with a set from the mini! It is called Bloomin Beautiful! When I first saw this set I instantly had an idea for it! So, yesterday I sat down and got to work and this is the result..........

Supplies: Bloomin' Beautiful Stamp set, Pale Plum, basic black, perfect plum, whisper white cardstock, basic black and versamark ink, watercolor crayons, blender pens, crystal effects, black gingham ribbon, dimensionals.

The crystal effects was used on the flowers to mimic dew drops and I also used it on the bee wings just for fun. I stamped the image 3 times once for the base, a second time to cut out just the floral image to be popped up, and a 3rd time to cut out individual blooms and pop them up. I wanted to give it dimension. I think I achieved that! Hope you like it! Until next time.........

New Stamps!!

I got some new stamps yesterday that I'm going to be using in a swap. They are from the new Occasions mini that you can see here. The first card I made uses Essence of Love! I LOVE this stamp! I've seen where several people have called it a "weed" stamp, but I don't think it looks like weeds at all! I think this card is so soft and feminine looking! I used the Faux Watercolor Technique. I have a tutorial here if you didn't see that before! I used the Green Galore and Cameo Coral watercolor crayons for this particular card. The butterfly was colored in pretty in pink and perfect plum. All the images were stamped on whisper white cardstock and layered on whisper white as well. I used a distressing tool to distress the edges of one layer to give a little definition to that layer since it was white on white. I also got some white tafetta ribbon for the first time and I LOVE it too! It is soft and easy to tie! I was inspired by another card I saw on someone elses blog, but of course I can't remember whose blog it was! If she happens to see this or someone else knows let me know and I will revise this so she gets credit!! I hope you like this card half as much as I do and I hope the swappers like it too! Here's the card! Enjoy!

I'll post another card tomorrow using another new set! So keep your eyes peeled for another wonderful creation by moi! LOL

A long 2 weeks!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Someone actually unsubscribed because I haven't been updating often enough!! My cousin got very ill and was on life support for 2 weeks and they decided to take her off last week and she passed away. I had been going back and forth to the hospital to give support to family. We went out of town this past weekend to Arkansas to visit my husband's brother and his wife and see their oldest son get baptized. It was nice to be able to go visit, but it was a really fast trip!

I realize this is a paper crafting blog, but I just have to show you something else!

My husband's Aunt called me last week and asked me if I would be willing to make a baby shower cake for someone that she works with. I was a little nervous about it because this was going to be a paid job!! Here is the cake I made for her. I think it turned out really cute! She wanted the pink to be just about white. I used white icing for the main cake so it would help the pink stand out a little bit. I wish I had done a basket weave on the sides, but I didn't think of it until just about time to deliver it, so it had plain sides! I made the roses from fondant that I tinted pale pink and the shimmer is from using pearl luster! ( I hope you can see it) I LOVE that stuff!! It makes them sparkle and looks so pretty!!!

I will try to get back to stamping and posting more frequently now that life is settling back down! Thanks for sticking with me!

Sometimes simple is better!

I made this card for my Sister-in-law for the baby shower today. I LOVE this sentiment and image sooooo much and the best part is, I only paid $1 for it!!! I'm also finding that I love the look and simplicity of one layer cards. I really love the way this card turned out!!! When she went to open my gift she knew that it was from me just by looking at the card! Everyone loved the onesies too! I also made her a little jumbo binder clip photo holder that is pictured after the card. I loved the card so much I decided I would match the photo holder to it! I know the ribbons look a little funky in the picture, but I was in a hurry to get out the door and I just took a couple of quick photos without adjusting the ribbons the way I wanted them.>

Whisper White Cardstock, Jet Black Stazon, Green Galore Classic ink, Going Gray Classic Ink, Blender Pens, Dew Drops, Small Glue Dots, Apple Green 1/4 inch Grosgrain Ribbon, Black and White ribbon source unknown.

A baby can never have too many onesies!

My sister-in-law is due to have a baby early in March and we are having a baby shower for her tomorrow. This is her third child, but her first girl!! We are all excited about that because my husband's family doesn't have many girls in it!! I decided as a gift I would stamp a set of onesies for her! I've seen several other examples of stamped onesies and it looked like it would be fairly easy to do! It really was easy too! I used apple barrel paints from the craft section of Wal-mart to stamp the images. I think my favorite one is the Sweet Pea one! It is such a sweet little image and it is a dollar stamp from either Michaels or JoAnns. They are thinking of naming the baby Ella, I don't know that this is set in stone, but I went with it anyway!! LOL If they change her name, it will be ok! She can just wear the onesies with the "E" at home or under other clothes!! I really love personalizing them with a monogram! It makes them a little more special I think. Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think!! I put a picture of all of them together and then close-ups of each image so you could get a better look! Enjoy!

Tute Tute!! Another video Tutorial!

I had a couple of questions sent to me that I thought I would address really quickly, then on to the video!!

Jackie asked.....Do you use a video or still camera that does video and what software do you use to edit your videos?

I use my digital camera that has video capabilities. I have a Kodak digital camera and it records in a quicktime format. I use a program called MOVtoAVI to convert the quicktime video to an MPEG first because the software I use doesn't recognize quicktime, then I use Windows Movie Maker to edit the video and add music, titles, and credits. Windows Movie Maker was already installed on my laptop from the factory! I don't think I know everything there is to know about it yet, but this only my 2nd video, so I think I'll get better at it as I go!

Do you have someone really patient to video you?

NOPE!!! If you saw the way I rigged up my camera you would probably die laughing!! I used the strap and lens cover that is attached to the camera and I hung it from the light fixture over my table!!! I moved my table until my workspace was lined up with the camera!!! I'll have to take a picture of my camera dangling up there!! Although for this tute, I used a tripod! I think I like the first way better though! The stupid tripod was in my way and I had to work from the side. The other way I could sit directly in front of my workspace without my head being in the video! I think I'll go back to the rigged up way!!

Now on to the good stuff!!
I have a birthday party to go to this afternoon for my husband's cousin that is turning 6 and I thought he would love a spinner card! If you don't know how to make one, then get ready to be astounded by how very easy they are to make!!! Using the Word Window Punch by Stampin Up makes these super fast and easy!! One tip I have for you is to make sure your cardstock is big enough so when you put it in the punch you can put it all the way in against the back of the punch so you don't have to try to line it up on your own! Let the punch do the work for you! I hope you enjoy it!!

Baptism Invitations

My Sister-in-law called and asked me to make some invitations for her son's baptism. I don't have any sets really geared toward a young boys baptism, but I have the set All God's Children and we decided it would be fine! She told me she wanted them to be baby blue (I used soft sky) and white and if I felt creative I could change those colors. I stuck to those as the main colors but I added a punch of Wild Wasabi and Blue Bayou to help the image pop a little! Let me know what you think of the layout and if the ribbon looks alright for an 8 year old boy!!

Supplies: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou Cardstock, Basic Black Classic Ink, Stampin Write Markers, Blender Pens, All God's Children Stamp Set, Canvas Background Stamp, Black Gingham Ribbon

I'm so honored!!

I am the featured blogger of the day at Queen Kat's Blogger's club. They contacted me about a month ago about being featured on their website!! I was absolutely stunned that they wanted to feature my blog! Go check them out at http://qkdbloggers.blogspot.com/ !! How exciting!

Oh, and on another exciting note, remember the swap I was in? The hostess (hey Elisabeth) had her customers vote for their favorite cards and my card was runner up!!! How fun is that??? I was such a nervous wreck because it was my first swap ever and I was runner up!! I was thrilled, to say the least!! I figured I would place but I thought I would be in last place!! LOL This swap was with other demonstrators and has EXTREMELY fabulous work!! As soon as I receive them I will post all the cards here for you all to see!!

One more quick note. I am going to start making a video, hopefully weekly for you to watch! I know how much I love to watch videos on other blogs, so I figured you might too!! It may not be a tutorial everytime, it may just be me making a card but I think you will enjoy it all the same!! Thanks for stopping by!

Tutorial Time!!

A fellow splitcoaststamper came up with a great way to make a crisscross card that only uses a half sheet of cardstock instead of a whole sheet! Her name is Lynn Birus! She doesn't have a blog, so I asked if I could share how to make one here, which she happily agreed to let me! Thanks Lynn! I made a video tutorial this time!! I hope you all enjoy it! It took me several hours of editting to get it just right!! LOL But I think the next time I'll have a better idea what I'm doing! This one is a little choppy, because I was trying to "cut the fat" so to speak. The actual cardmaking time was 15 minutes. Onto the video!! It may take a minute to load.....



As you can see, I made a mistake cutting the card that goes in the pocket, but luckily....well I'm not so sure it was lucky.....I had made a card just like it before I made this video....I thought I had hit record and made the entire thing only to find that I DIDN'T push record!!! So I had to make it all over again! The first time around it was perfect, of course!!! If you have any questions on what I did, leave it in the comments and I will answer you in a new post. I think you should be able to figure it out though!! Y'all are smart!!

Yeah Baby!

I've had an idea for quite a while for a card, my only problem is, I don't have the stamp set I needed to make it!! So, being the resourceful person that I am, I went to Splitcoast and went to the ISO....in search of....forums and put out a plea for someone to stamp some images for me! That plea was answered by a WONDERFUL demonstrator named Tami aka chelrel19 on splitcoast! Thank you so much Tami!!! You can check out her blog here http://www.stampingatcatscorner.com/ she has lots of really great cards and projects!! Anyway, as I was saying, I've had this idea in my head for a while to combine images from All in the Family and one of the sentiments from Time Well Spent....hee hee hee.....ok...just look! But be forewarned, this is a little twisted and it isn't one of the prettiest cards.....I've been dying to get it made, so I just slapped it together so you could see the idea!! Ok...here it is!

HA!!!!!! I just couldn't wait to show this!!! I hope you thought it was as funny as I do!!! Now, I'm off to go post it in my gallery on splitcoast for the people that have no clue I have a blog......I know, perish the thought!! Anyway, I'm going to post it for them to enjoy too!! Have a great day!!

Neopolitan Ice Cream Anyone?

I've finally figured out what I'm making for my swap!! I sorta kinda combined the first two cards I made, changed up the colors and ended up with what I think is a Beautimous card!! I love the look of pink, brown, and vanilla!! I think it is one of my most favorite color combos! I stamped the chocolate chip cardstock with versamark like a one sheet wonder. I used clear embossing powder to emboss the images to give them more depth. I also inked up the flower images with versamark first, then inked them with classic ink, stamped the images, then embossed with clear embossing powder. Embossing powder won't stick to classic ink because it dries too fast, and I don't have all the craft inks yet, so this is an alternative way to emboss with your colored inks. I also stamped the sentiment on the ribbon with versamark then clear embossed it. It gives a nice effect. I sewed the chocolate chip and pretty in pink layers together then roughed up the edges with my fingernail. Instead of a cherry on top, I put a pearl on top! I think it is very pretty!

I hope you like it!! And more importantly, I hope the girls I swap with like it!! Stay tuned for more cardmaking fun!