Monocromatic Star Book

A great friend of mine, Pat, made a star book last January for the Club Med swap at Retreat and I was lucky enough to get it!! She made her's with the theme of San Antonio since that is where we all were. Well, I took her idea and made my own here and will offering it for classes in Sept and Oct. I used one of the packs of Monochromatic Cardstocks on page 119 for the new TAC's Inspiration Book. Mine is Blue Greens but you can select any of the colors listed as long as I know at least 2 weeks in advance to order it for you. I used the set Simply Devine stamp set for mine but you can use any set(s) you would like. The top photo is the book closed .. it is very simple ...
... but when you open it you see lots of pictures and stamped image and you can journal in it also! I used my nature photos in mine, but you can select and BRING YOUR OWN PHOTOS. The photos should be no wider than 2.5" or less is better and no taller than 3". It is easier to put in photo which are vertical or portrait.
You can crop your photos or punch out parts of the image if you want. Please bring to class: Scor-pal, cutter, bone folder, lots of adhesive, your photos, and scissors. Here is a photo of two pages together, one even has a pop out!

You will be able to use the scrapes from cutting the pages to decorate your pages, and the rest to the pack you get to take home to make more. You will be doing all of your own cutting for this class! Here is what the book looks like from the top when it is open and tied together. Cost is $20 and I need RSVP's at least 2 weeks in advance.

Here are the dates I have planned at this time. Let me know if you are interested in attending. Only 5 per class please!!

• Sept 29 from 6-9 at my home in Painesville
• Oct 2 from 1-4 at my home in Painesville (one opening)
  
• Oct 4 from 2-5 at my home in Painesville
• Oct 8 from 6-9 at my home in Painesville (three openings)
  
• Oct 26 from 6-9 at my home in Painesville
• Oct 29 from 6-9 at my home in Painesville

Blessings

Wait till you see....

... what is inside of this cigar box!!! At The Angel Company's Club Med luncheon we all make a larger prop and exchange them. We all get so many great ideas from seeing every one's work!! Well, this year I was the luckiest angel of all!! I received Shirley Hotop's miniature cigar box stamping studio!! It is outstanding!!! The workmanship, creativity, and time she put into it is amazing. I am so thrilled to have received this at the exchange!! Thanks you Shirley!! You can check out more of Shirley's work on her blog, Glittered Paws.

Now to see what is on the inside of it ....
It is a complete little stamping studio!! She has everything in it a stamper would use ....

... mini sponge, ribbons, eyelets, paper (she used TAC's Miss Moxie SWIC), buttons, pencils etc.

even on the shelf above the table she has more stamping supplies. Can you see how she put the shelf up with the metal hinges!!

This is the part that really go to me. She has a little garbage can with TAC's rubber in it!! How complete is that!!And realistic too!!


On the inside of the top of the cigar box she put a board up with samples of cards using all TAC images!!

Here is a look at the complete inside top of the box!! It has a special place in my personal studio now for everyone to see. I wanted to wait and show this until after my Open House so my local customers could see it in person first. You do not get the same impression with pictures as you do in real life. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift Shirley!! Blessings

Pre-seminar Excitment!!

Well, I have been really busy the last week getting ready for our annual Seminar with The Angel Company. We will be the first to see the NEW 2009 Inspiration Book!!! It will have new stamps, double sided paper and many other new items to play with! OH how fun it will be!! It will also be great to see all of my friends again from all over the country! I made so many things to take with me to trade for new ideas to share with all of you. I am going to show you a sneak peek of one of the projects I made that I am so in LOVE with. It is for a prop swap that we trade with another leader in the company. I so love this one ...... I will be making myself one for sure and teaching classes on it too!! But here is the sneak peek of it ... wait till you see the inside!!! You will not believer your eyes ... but you will have to wait until later to see it .... OK I will give you one more peak .... now that is it! No more until the owner gets to see it which will be on Thurs morning. So come back later on Thurs to see more of what is inside!

I will tell you I used the sets All Things of Nature & BooKoo Blessings, the paper is Angelee SWIC and the ink is Burnt Umber. I of course used my Score-pal to construct the box and make some of the things inside. Wait till you see what all is inside!! Do I have your attention yet??? Blessings

Blog Hop Scor-pal's Scor-bug

It's BLOG HOP time!! Be sure to read all the way to the end to see some more angels projects using the great Scor-Pal!! I love using my Scor-pal, here are few other posts (click on the links) I have using it: how to make a grid, sanding on white core paper, adding a border, making a frame and inking it, details on making diagonals, easy gift card holder, and another gift card holder. You can also check the side bar of my blog to see the links to my tutorials on the Scor-pal site. This is a great tool so be sure you are using all of the time to add detail, dimension and highlight to your projects.

Yes, I wrote that correctly ... the Scor-bug! It is a new addition to use with your Scor-pal, and it is really cool and easy to use. It matches the Scor-pal colors and can make a line of embossed dots on your card or a line of holes, which could be used for stitching too. I was playing with it early last week while I was getting my cards and gift card holders ready for Mother's day to take to Jennifer & Co Salon, where I sell my hand made items. If you are local, you can go in and see this up close and personal! In the first card, I did a plaid background with a 1/2" line of embossed and a 1/2" line of embossed dots. Look closely at the pink Matchmakers papers, I did the opposite and did a row of holes down each of the sides. In this card you can see both ways of using the Scor-Bug. I love the added texture this Scor-bug adds to your card!! The stamp is a retired set that I have always loved called Charcoal Flowers from The Angel Company. Sorry about using so many retired stamps but sometime I love them so much I have to still keep playing with them.
On this card I did the embossed dots on Matchmakers cardstock, which has a white core, and then sanded it so the white core shows through.


Here are a few finished cards using this idea. Notice too that I really like to score the backgrounds to give them a more finished look. It adds so much to the card with the detail, depth, texture and lines.For the next card, I lined the inside front of the card up so the diagonal corners are on the 6" line. Here is how I lined the card up on the Scor-pal. Then I did a line of scoring with the Scor-tool and then a line of embossed dots with the Scor-bug. I did these 1" apart but they could be any distance.

And here is the finished card.
On this card I lined the inside front crease up at 3 5/8" , which is at the first arrow, and then scored at 4" and 4 1/2". Then I used the Scor-bug at 4 1/4" so I could have a line of embossed dots between the scored lines. TIP: If you notice on my Scor-pal, I have put a black dot at 4 1/4" since that is where I usually score my cards.Here is the finished card using this technique.



Here are a list of other angels who are in the Blog Hop too!! Please be sure to check out there sites to see more ideas and projects using the Scor-pal!! You will love what you see!! Have fun and blessings

Melisa - http://paperliciousdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/05/score-pal-projects-blog-hop.html
Jen -http://jensinkspot.blogspot.com/2009/05/scor-pal-blog-hop-part-2.html
Brenda - http://bcraftytoday.blogspot.com/2009/05/posting-problems-test.html
Carol - http://stampincarol.blogspot.com/2009/05/scor-pal-project-blog-hop.html
Rita Kegg- http://ritasangels.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-hop-scor-bug.html
Allison - http://stampedbyanangel.blogspot.com/2009/04/trio-tutorial-money-holder-business.html
Chris - http://allamericanstampers.blogspot.com/2009/05/scor-pal-blog-hop.html
Betty - http://stampinteacher.blogspot.com/2009/04/scor-pal-blog-hop.html
Jamie - http://inkspots101.blogspot.com/2009/05/stamped-teachers-gifts.html
Jany - http://stampwithjany.com/2009/05/03/tutorial-para-contenedor-de-leche/
Bridgett - http://hoosierstamper.blogspot.com/2009/05/angel-blog-hop.html
LaurieW - http://soapboxcreations.blogspot.com/2009/05/scor-pal-blog-hop.html

Let's Get in Shape!

Wow was this class fun to design and teach! I love to make cards with unusual shapes and that is what this class is all about. We make a high top tennis shoe, black patent high heel shoe, baby's onies, ice cream, cupcake and a woman in a bikini (front and back!). I will teach you a cool trick on how to make her necklace also which could also be used for the inside of flowers. I have already taught the class and plan on having it a few more times if you are interested here are the classes I have planned or check on my calender on the left. This is a great class for beginners. Cost is $15 and bring your scissors, bone folder, pencil, Scor-pal, glue and if you want to trace my patterns some cardboard or quilters plastic.
Thurs. April 23 from 1-3:30
Thurs. April 23 from 6-8:30
Mon. May 4 from 6-8:30
Friday May 8 from 6-8:30
If none of these times works for you, let me know and we can see what else we can plan. Have a wonderful day!
Well, my studio is CLEAN!!! (except for one small corner) It looks fantastic!! It even feels more creative and inviting. I am going to have a fun stamping day with my TAC-ee Ladies today but when I get home I NEED to play it in ... and then clean up my space for the next time ... like that is really going to happen each time. Well, I can dream. Blessings

Spring into April

The Angel Company is having three different months of savings on new stamp sets! You can get all of the three new sets each month at a discounted price with a $30 order during Spring into April. The sets are great too! Here are a few samples I made with my Spring into April sets. On all three cards I used my Scor-Pal. How did I create before I got this fabulous tool???? I use it on almost every project I make any more. Notice the embossed lines in the background on all of them, this is my favorite thing to do. Make unusual embossed backgrounds for my cards and then put the images and papers on top. It makes them look so much more professional.

The top left card is very simple but I think elegant with the scored background, cut out image colored with colored pencils, black script words and a simple ribbon. I used Forever Friend . This is a classic set with beautiful script words and two bouquets of flowers

I love the new cupcake set, Sweet Thing, on the bottom left. I used four different colors from the same pattern paper from one of TAC's Designer Collections and scored a grid on the background for them. I used a new tool, the Zutter Round it all, to round the corners. I did all four at the same time! Isn't that cool. I love this tool for rounding corners of multiple papers at one time. It is really a time saver. Then I paper pieced the cupcake and added crystal Stickles on the frosting for accent. The background for the cupcake is three punched scalloped squares. I used our new Tombow white gel pen to highlight the black scallops and the black Slick Writer marker to highlight the white. I love the accents.

And on the card at the right, I used Friends, which matches very well with the new Serendipity set, A kind of Gratitude. And these two sets match very closely to one of most favorite things, Vera Bradley Java Blue ... so I will be creating with these two sets in the future using those colors! I used a scrap of TAC's Cha Cha SWIC and punched two holes in it with my Crop-a-dile to add a black ribbon, colored and cut out the bird and used my Scor-pal for the embossed lines on the white and black paper. I used the new Tombow White gel pen to add stitching lines on the valleys of the embossed lines on the black.

Last week was such a busy week for me with so much on my plate, I am working to try and catch up this week. I promise to get my newsletter out soon and keep the blog up better this week. Have a great day and blessings to all!

Running out of time ...

.... to get this really great special from TAC, Fresh Spring Things!! You get this cute set of little animals (not shown is a teddy bear with a balloon), TAC Designer Collection Gentle Beginnings, and matching hardware! The best part is the price ... it is regularly $26.65 but you get it for $19.95 until March 31.

Here I made up some covered York Peppermint Patties with the base as the patty covered with Gentle Beginnings, TAC's largest flower flower punch and a white punched circle stamped with the images and colored with colored pencils and watercolor crayons. I will be selling these this weekend at my craft fair at St. Gab's in Mentor on Friday and Saturday. I hope to design another quick and cute candy favor using this set today also and I will post when I can. Stop in at the show and say "HI". I will have the Serendipity Magalogues with me if you still do not have yours .. ask me about it. Blessings

Fresh Spring Things

Wow ... TAC has a cute new promotion (and FREE downloads to match) right now called Fresh Spring Things. It is a new stamp set with cute little animals for the springtime, Gentle Beginnings DC and hardware to match! But the best is that it is only $19.95!! (full retail is $26.65) I will be putting an order in early next week if you want to take advantage of it!!

But the other good news is they have started a new area on their web site for free downloads. They have a great little download that matches this kit on there now for place cards. But I decided to print them off and have a little fun with them in cards. Here is what I came up with! I love how they turned out.

I used my Scor-pal to make decorative backgrounds and then ran a VersaMagic pad over the score lines for accent. I made 5 cards each with different looks for the backgrounds. I then cut out or punched out the images and designed the cards with scrapes I had of the Gentle Beginnings papers. I used different stamps on them for the words. My favorite words are TAC's free Gift with Purchase stamps to say Happy Easter! I highlighted the printed images with a glitter pen and I was done. They were so quick and easy to do! And the images are already colored and done for you ... all you need to do is to print them out .. now how easy is that.

I will be making a card with these downloads for my Monthly Mojo Class this month ... check my calender for the dates. Remember if you can not make one of these times let me know and we can work something out or if you are not local ... I do sell the directions.

I have two date today to share. On Friday, March 20 from 3-7 PM I will be at the Roly Poly in Mentor for an Open House for Serendipity!! Come pick up a quick healthy dinner and join me to view many of the projects from Escape, samples from my classes, and make a free make-n-take. Drop in anytime and stay as long as you would like. Check my calender for more details. If possible can you RSVP so I can get an idea of how many papers to cut. Thanks!!

Also, I have Faith Lutheran Church booked for my annual spring Stamp a Stack! Save the date, Saturday May 2 from 1-5! Have a great day and blessings.

You are so DEER

And the WINNER IS!!!! ......... Chelsea!!! If you could send me your home mailing address and complete name I will get it in the mail for you!!

Today I am showing you more of my photo cards made with pictures I took in my own backyard. I had seven deer out there at one time and really had a great photo shoot with them. I have a lot of beautiful pictures but here are just three of them that I made into cards. The top one I used one of the new sets from Serendipity called Edge Designs. It is beautiful along the edges of envelopes too! I am not sure how I have lived without that set. I have been using it a lot! The words from the top card are from a set called Be Still. Remember you can click on the pictures to see a larger one and there are links to the sets and papers.

For the bottom two cards I used a new set called You Are from Serendipity for the works ... I thought they went well with the pictures. I also used the set Mountain Scenery for the background. I have found that this type of cards are great for using up all of my tags! I have so many and find they work well with the pictures. The tags on the last two are from the Soar with it Collection called Reece.

I had a wonderful birthday thanks to so many of my wonderful friends!! I didn't cook all weekend ... and that is a GOOD thing! I went to a quilt show on Saturday and boy have I had the itch to start sewing again. Most of you do not know but I did machine applique and made children's and baby's clothes as a small business on my own when my daughter was a baby. I really enjoyed it. My mom taught me to sew when I was in second grade and I kept on sewing most of my younger life .... until l meant stamps, inks and paper. So ... we will see what happens here. I am getting my sewing machine fixed and cleaned right now so who will win ... paper or fabric??? Have a beautiful day .. the sun is so bright today!! I love it! Blessings

Altered Photo Books

Thanks to everyone for you compliments on my photo cards!! I have some more pictures coming to make more since they are so much fun. Today I was blessed to have 7 deer in my backyard and the dog or me on the desk flashing pictures of them did not disturb them. It was fun. To answer a question that was asked, I prefer the mat finish but it does not matter, it is your preference on the way you want the pictures to look.

Here are a few altered photo books I have been making for my Etsy store and up coming craft shows. They are black plastic and have 36 spaces for 4 x 6" pictures. I h ave been making them for all different occasions and for my personal use to store my zoo pictures, my backyard friend pics, and my Holden (nature park) pictures. Here are a few of the ones I will have on sale in my Etsy store. One of them is for pictures of a love one who you have lost and the others are for any occasion. I have more of them that I will be posting in the store also. If you want to see more pictures of them that is the place to look also. These are easy and fun to make. They are all made with TAC stamps and papers, Give it a try!! Blessings

Today is the day!

** I just added a new class for the Bind it all for Jan 30, Friday from 6-8:30 since so many are still interested in this class. If you are still interested in the Perpetual Calendar class let me know, I can add one of those also.

Call or email t0 help me celebrate my 10th anniversary with The Angel Company .... and if you place an order today, January 10, I will pay for your shipping. This is a 10% discount!! And remember all of the t-coded stamps are 50% off right now so that is really a great deal!

The cute little cow card is a card I sent to my favorite guy on his birthday ... he was 2 years old! Hope is was a happy day! I used one of the new set, Barn Yard Birthday, from TAC's Wonderful Winter Wishes special. With a $30 order you can purchase any or all of the four new sets at a special price. And if you place a $100 order you receive the set Interact free along with the other Hostess specials! This is a great time to pamper yourself with new stamps, papers and crafting supplies.

If you would like to join TAC and work with me and my RAK PAK you can add $50 of free T-coded stamps on top of your awesome starter kit with this special until the end of January. Just because being an angels is just more fun!

The second card I made for a few for my friends with January birthdays. I used the same set Barn Yard Birthdays too. I just think that sheep is too cute! Hope to hear from you today. Blessings

Monthly Mojo

OK .. blogger is cooperating with me tonight! Here are a few sneaks from my new class January's Monthly Mojo. We will be making 6-7 cards to use during the month of Feb. Including a sympathy card, gift card card, two scrap-ling cards, a get well card, a birthday card and Valentine cards. It will be fun! Check my calendar on the side to see dates, times and supplies. Blessings