Monday, February 16, 2015

I've been a busy bee!!

Hello all!!  I have been extremely busy as the credential program is getting a lot more demanding, work has been crazy busy, and my kiddo's need momma's love, too, so stamping has been a bit on the back burner.  The one thing that keeps me sane has been on pause because I just haven't had time, and boy have I been needing it (seriously, ask my husband, I'm not a happy camper when I don't have time to stamp).  So, when fellow Luv 2 Stamp-er, Pam over at The Serial Stamper, put out an invitation to participate in a blog hop, I made it a point to raise my hand and say, "ME! ME!" like the great little student that I am.  For today's blog hop, I am sharing the two cards that we made in my February card class along with some other projects I've been able to sneak in (who needs sleep, right???).

The first is the Love You Valentine, made with the gorgeous Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack, Scattered Seasons and Work of Art stamp sets, some glimmer paper and the Itty Bitty Heart Punch.  I used Pink Pirouette as my card base, and I stamped the sentiment on whisper white card stock using the baby wipe technique as demonstrated by the lovely Frenchie.  You use different color reinker's on a baby wipe and that becomes your ink pad.  I loved that technique! I layered it onto a piece of cherry cobbler, stamped the "You" from the Work of Art set in Memento Black, sponged my banner and used dimensionals to attach.  I also wrapped a piece of one of my fave ribbons (retired, sorry!) to the black and white paper only and attached using a couple of glue dots.



The second card was a request from one of my good friends.  She'd seen it on Pinterest and sent me a picture asking if we could make it in class.  If you know whose original concept this is, please let me know!  It was a very simple card to make, but sometimes simple is the most beautiful.  This is a great way to use any paper scraps you might have from other projects.  We used 3 different punches for the hearts and made the little envelope using a 3" x 3" piece of crumb cake card stock and the envelope punch board.  The tag was stamped using the Hello Life stamp set.  Bling it up with a rhinestone and you have a beautiful card you can give to just about anyone.
 


Part of the blog hop is answering questions some people might have about what we, lovers of stamps, ink and paper, do: 

 •  What are you working on?
     February is a very busy time for me because there are a lot of family functions and birthdays on top of Valentine's Day and that means, projects need to be made.  I'm in the process of completing an order for birthday and thank you cards along with making some birthday cards for upcoming family birthdays.
 •  How does your work differ from others in your genre?
     I don't really know if I've found "who I am" as a stamper just yet, but I do know what I DON'T like.  I might disappoint some of you but I don't care for: doilies or overly flowery prints.  Which is funny because I LOVE the Painted Petals set and DSP in the Occasions catalog (go figure). I am still learning different techniques and love to see what others post on various forums.
 •  Why do you create what you do?  
     I love to create for those around me.  For loved ones, friends, my kids, anyone who needs a pick-me-up.  There is something special about giving and receiving handmade items, or having something you created up on your wall or mantle.  I love to see what my daughter has created in preschool and there are times when she makes something just for me and it's priceless.
 •  How does your creative process work?
     It depends on where I'm at emotionally.  There are times when I could be at the grocery store, at work, anywhere, and something catches my attention.  Then it's just a matter of putting my idea together by looking at the sets I have and then I'll look at the card stock colors I have.  Other times, I'll have to jot something down because I'll get an idea for a card and it's happened in the past that I'll forget and I'm left with the thought that I lost something that could've been great.

Ok, enough of me.  I'll leave you with the picture of the valentines that I made for my daughter's preschool class.  With everything going on in my crazy life, I didn't have too much time to make something, but I was saved by My Paper Pumpkin!!  Last month's kit was absolutely adorable and perfect for the busy mom with little time.  I had bought some candy from the bulk items section at our grocery store and it only took me about an hour to put these together.  My daughter absolutely loved them.    
 


Hope you had a good time with me, thanks Pam for allowing me a spot on your hop, and I have two great bloggers for you for next week.  One of them is Lisa Rhine from Get Crafty with Lisa. If you'd like to purchase any of the items I used in my projects, please visit my online store.  Happy stamping!

 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Christmas Cheer or Bah-Humbug??

HELLOOOOO!!!  Wow, I hadn't realized that I hadn't blogged in over two months - INSANE!  It's been a very busy time for me, as I have been working toward my teaching credential, working, loving my 2 babies, AND trying to dedicate more time to my love for crafting.  NOT easy, and incredibly tiring, but I'm sure you didn't come here to read about how tired I am.  As I type this, I'm taken back to Bonnie Thurber's presentation at Convention and how she talked about "the doldrums" and how it's a cycle.  Well guess what, I'VE BEEN THERE!  I'm hoping to be in the "getting out" of them stage and get back to cheer instead of bah-humbug!  Because really, who needs a Scrooge in their home for Christmas??  NOT I...

I've been trying to cram as much as I can into the little free time that I've had, including sleep time (cuz seriously, who needs sleep, right?!  It's so overrated!).  The last 2 weekends I've gone to my first ever holiday boutiques, where I had a table with some of my things.  I've met some really nice people and I'm hoping that next year, with all the BEAUTIFUL things slated to come in the Occasions catalog for Sale-A-Bration, I'll be busy with workshops and spreading my love for Stampin' Up!  These are just some of the things I've been working on... 

 
Gotta love a cute red-nosed reindeer.  Like his antlers?  They're made with the Autumn Accents die (you're welcome!) and the Curvy Keepsake Ornament Thinlit.
 
 
My display table...  It looks so OFFICIAL!
 
 
Joy card using the beautiful Filigree frame embossing folder and the Wonderful Wreath Framelits both from the 2014 Holiday catalog.
 
 
I love this stamp set! It's the White Christmas Photopolymer stamp set.  The sentiment is from the oh-so-popular Endless Wishes Photopolymer stamp set and I framed it using my fave, Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper cut using the Deco Labels framelits.
 
 
Lastly, one of my great friends from work asked me to create a card for someone leaving as a "congrats for a new job" gift.  I immediately thought about this stamp set, Banner Blessings.  It is one of SU!'s newest sets and it is fast becoming one of my favorite stamp sets.  Who wouldn't love to be told to shine as bright as the stars?!  Love the gold glimmer paper banner peeking out from underneath!  My friend loved it and so did the recipient! 
 
As you can see, I've managed to squeeze in some stampin' time for myself.  It is what keeps me sane and centered....
 
Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope I inspired you to take a break from your busy life to just create some pretty paper things...
 
Until next time (promise it won't be two months)!

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Love Story: The start of my journey

When it was announced earlier this year that Stampin' Up! was partnering up with Becky Higgins and her Project Life, it was as if I was hearing about Albert Einstein's theory of E=MC squared - it was revolutionary and apparently life altering, but I had no clue what it meant.  I have always liked the idea of scrapbooking (which I now know to call memory-keeping) and I have put some together, some only halfway, and I just NEVER had the time to complete them.  That and each little sheet of stickers and cute letters could sometimes cost me up to $3 and $5 so supplies could get costly... I have been trying to complete scrapbooks from when we got married, for my daughter, and my son...  that's a total of FIVE long years of memory keeping to catch up on.  Can you say "holy crap that's a lot of pictures and stickers and just STUFF"?? 

So, being the person that I am, I researched what this whole "Project Life" was all about.  I watched Katina Martinez' youtube videos on the subject and OH MY GOD, I could not believe she had 3 kids and made an album for each - PLUS one for the whole family.  And I can't even do 1.. yup, ONE...  I knew I had to at least try it out...

When I attended the catalog premiere and I saw the new Project Life products, I immediately fell in love and was convinced that I had to try... I knew I wanted to use the Love Story kit because that is where I need to start - at the beginning.  Once I have that done, I know I will be able to tackle the massive projects that will be my children's albums.

So, three whole months later, the opportunity to join in a Project Life blog hop with Katina came up and I decided to share my story with you... Just in case you find yourself in the same situation, because I refuse to believe I am the only with a drawer like this in their kitchen (or craft room, garage, bedroom, etc..):



Full of photos and art projects and trinkets that they want to hold onto.

Or photos just stuck in an album with in no real order because you swear you will make time to get back to it and actually make it look pretty (I have too many of these)...


So I am here, holding a beautiful Love Story kit sharing my story just in case you would like to start on your journey to begin or even continue with your memory keeping projects but you just don't know where to start.  I am putting my project to document my life with Project Life (I swear this just came out without thinking!) out here in blogland to hold myself accountable to you..  and I invite you to take on that beast!!  You can find the Love Story journaling kit here and the accessory pack here... 




I will bring you an update next week to see how far along I got.. wish me luck!

And if you are in a different spot in your memory keeping, I encourage you to look at the other stops on our blog hop...

Loving Life's Little Blessing - Katina Martinez
Elmer Stamper - Kristin Kortonick
Stampin' Cita - Carmelita Wasson
Stamping Susan - Susan Wong
Stamping with Karlie - Karlie Yardy
Kelsey Is - Kelsey Noble
Earthy Scrap - Jennie Garcia
Have a great weekend!  Happy memory keeping!
~Maria 

Friday, August 15, 2014

Lots of Birthdays in August

Hello everyone, although we're only halfway through August, I've been a busy, sleep-deprived little momma bee.  There have been three birthdays just in the first part of the month and my son will be 2 at the end of the month, so you know mommy's going to be busy making some fun birthday party projects.

I wanted to share with you the birthday cards I've made so far for some pretty special people.

The first is the card I made for my beautiful goddaughter for her 16th birthday.  She's bright, colorful, she's a teenager and she's just growing too fast.

 
I used the Kinda Eclectic stamp set, Dictionary background stamp, and the Ray of Sunshine stamp set in bright colors on whisper white cardstock.  I mounted it on the colorful sweet taffy DSP.
 
For my sister-in-law, whose birthday comes one week after and loves the color red, I made this card:
 


I used the cherry cobbler and daffodil delight blendabilities markers.  I even colored the rhinestones with them!  The lower part of the red cardstock was lightly embossed with our large polka dot embossing folder.  The ribbon is retired (shhhh!!).

I also used the blendies markers on this card for one of my co-workers:


I absolutely loved how all of these cards came out, and I hope the recipients did, too!

Happy Stampin'!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Fun with Dies!

Wow, I hadn't realized how long I'd been away from blogland until I logged in today...

WELL, let me tell you, the break was amazing.  First of all, I went to the mecca of creativity and inspiration - the Stampin' Up! Inspire. Create. Share. 2014 Convention...  I was like a kid in a candy store...  Like a bookworm in a library...  Like an ant in a bag of sugar...  I think you get the picture, I was in papercrafter heaven.  Saw some beautiful things, learned a TON of new techniques, shared some laughs, and overall had a great time.  I will be sharing some of those new techniques here in the posts ahead.  It was the first time in 4 years that I've been without either my husband or one of my babies, so it was a huge sacrifice, but well worth the time away... THIS is all for them...

Here are some pics..


The check-in lines were soooooo long.. (funny enough the line for those with their last names starting with V was like, 2 people! SCORE!)


So, after convention, it took a while to get back into my regular schedule of work and being mommy, but I was able to start a card class with a few ladies from work!  YAY!  We made some pretty awesome cards and we decided to make it a monthly class...  The more excuses for stampin', the better!  I have also been busy playing with the new hamburger and fry box dies that debuted in this year's catalog!  This is what I've been making....

My son LOVES the movie Cars...  And I got creative with the Hamburger Box Die (133724) 

Mater and McQueen

Can't forget his towing gear!
 
And then I just kept going....

 
And these are for a co-workers' niece's upcoming birthday party inspired by Monsters, Inc.!
 
 
I made Boo using the Fry Box die (132966), some cello bags, ribbon, and chocolates...
 

I've been having a blast with these new products.  And with Stampin' Up! having the Big Shot promo (buy a Big Shot, get an awesome stamp set and framelit bundle FREE), now is a great time to add these dies to your paper crafting tool box! 

Happy papercrafting!