Pics of My Crafty Space

I took some pics of my new craft studio to show you as I've had some people ask what the drawers and lazy susan cupboard look like inside. Thanks again so much to my hubby, Jim for helping to put this unit together! Luv ya for puttin' up with me and my crafty obsession! lol :)

So, here's the tour...moving from left to right across the space. Be prepared for lots of pics! :)

First is my printer/scanner/copier and all my mounted SU stamp sets and some unmounted sets and some other loose mounted stamps. On the bottom is a tin of Hodge Podge Hardware and other embellishments.

Oooohhhhh, ribbon goodness! lol :) These ribbon holders are great for neatly housing your ribbon spools.

This is the top drawer that holds my embossing powders, dew drops, pop dots, glue dots, erasers, sponges, clear blocks, etc...

This drawer holds my large punches and a few see-thru embellishment tins for prima flowers.

This drawer holds most of my inks all stacked up nicely and more are under the wipe container.

I got this beautiful display shelf at a Second hand store for $5! I love it for holding cards from my friends and a few of my favourite ones by me.

I love this paper trimmer by Making Memories. It cuts like a dream and no wobbly end cuts. It also folds out to twice the size for 12" x 12" cuts.

A cute little pink camouflage canvas tool caddy holds most commonly used card making tools.

From left to right, a boxed set of 12 SU inks, 2 cases of drawers for my patterned paper, 2 more sets of drawers for my cardstock and a handmade ink pad holder (Thanks, Ben!) for more inks. On top are some of my favourite cards that I've received from friends and some of my favourite stamps.

Here's a peek inside my lazy susan cupboard...more ribbon for a ribbon addict! My Touch markers are housed in the box on top of the ribbon box.

An embellishment caddy for my Swarovski crystals and lots of brads and another tool caddy that I altered.

More ribbon...more ribbon and more embellishments in boxes.
Oh, and more embellishments! Humm...

On the bottom is mostly little things to alter in the future.

I'm gonna have to start staying up nights altering things, I think! lol :)

Rather messy at the moment, but these are most of my unmounted stamps and some rub-ons and chipboard embellishments.

This is Cuttlebug Corner and I found this cute little sling holder in the same colour to hold all my Cuttlebug plates and embossing folders.

This is my computer. I love having it right at my crafty station so I can check out other blogs for inspiration or just for a bit of relaxation time.

These are the drawers on the far right side of the counter unit.

The top drawer holds my little punches.

The Second drawer down holds my spare cutters and paper scorers. As well as my Nestabilities and Creative Memories Oval and Circle Custom Cutting Systems.

The third drawer holds a box of assorted embellishments on the bottom and some unmounted stamps in CD cases on the side.

This is still the 3rd drawer down. Showing another plastic case that holds more odd mounted stamps.

This is the fourth drawer down that holds more loose mounted stamps, Mod Podge, rubbing alcohol, a couple of card kits and my heat embossing tool.

Hope you enjoyed the hour of my Happy Space!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

My New Craft Studio

I'd like to present to you the newest addition to our family...my new Craft Studio! lol :) Jim and I spent all day yesterday tearing down my old L-shaped craft desk and put in this new one. Then, it took me the rest of the day to organize it the way I wanted it so I could take full advantage of the fabulous drawers and lazy susan cupboard. I'm sure I'll still end up re-arranging things, but for now it's so nice to be able to have just the essentials on my counter top and other supplies within easy reach.

I was thrilled to acquire this from the friend of a good friend of mine. Sadly, his wife passed away from Breast Cancer nearly two years ago. After having just gone through her craft studio, before passing this unit on, his only stipulation for the person who received it was he wanted it to be put to good use. Thank you so much, Jamie, I'll put it to great use. I love my new space! I can't thank you enough! :)

Well, it's 30 C here and we're heading to the beach to enjoy the gorgeous weather. It's about time after all the rain we've had lately! I'll be christening my new craft space tonight. Stay tuned...

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Melissa's Blog Giveaway

Melissa over at Creating from the Heart is sharing in a BIG way to celebrate her blogaversary. Please stop on by to say hi and to play along in the fun! :)

Good luck!

Flower Pot Card

Well, the slumber party went fairly well last night with 7 girls under age 7 here for 16 hours! Considering the amount of little girls here the night went well. The oldest of the group was the only one that cried cause she was homesick and we ended up having to call her Mum at 11:30 to come get her. Good thing she lives just one street over from us. My youngest and the little girl across the street decided to be the troopers of the crowd and stayed up 'til 12:45 AM, though! The rest of them fell asleep around 11:30 PM. I think they all had lots of fun. They all dressed up in Diva Attire and did lots of singing and dancing to the loud Hannah Montana and Camp Rock music that we had playing and we had snacks and makeovers and painted finder nails and toe nails. We also have several guitars here in the house so those came in to play as well with a drum...for a little added musical accompaniment! lol :)

So, this was the flower pot card that the girls made last night. I made little kids for each of the girls, but only 3 girls ended up finishing their cards. The rest were too busy to sit still for a few minutes, I guess. So, I sent the kits home with them and maybe they'll make them later.

The card above was my sample, but I didn't like the pot rim, so I changed up a the pattern a bit for the kids flower pots. This is the card that my oldest daughter, Alexandria made.
This is the one that I made with the sleeve shown that you can write your sentiment on.Well, I have to run off to work now.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: One of a Kind (SU)
Cardstock: Dark Red, Bright Yellow, Light Blue and Green (Michaels)
Patterned Paper: Play - Hula Hoop (American Crafts)
Ink: Tuxedo Black - Memento (Tsukineko)
Tools: Scissors, 1/8" Dimensional Squares (EK Success), Thumb tack to poke holes for brads
Embellishments: 5/8" Solid Cayenne Red Ribbon (American Crafts), Clear Gem Brads (Dollarama)

Christmas in July Challenge card from Deborah

This month's card challenge with our local group of stampers was "Christmas in July" and this beautiful card is the one that I got last night. This lovely embroidered Christmas tree card was made by my friend, Deborah. She really makes the most wonderful embroidered cards. She swears that they're not that difficult to do, that she just watches TV while she stitches them. But, I don't think she gives herself nearly enough credit! I don't think I'd have nearly enough patience! lol :)

The top picture captured some of the shimmer and the metallic cardstock, but I lost some of the thread and beads in the photo. So, here's a couple of different angles to show you the stitching a bit better.

Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful card with me, Deborah! I love it! :) By the way, my hubby doesn't show a huge interest in my cardmaking, I guess the same as I don't show an interest in his aircraft modelling, but when I showed him this card he was in complete awe! :)
Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Mojo96 Sketch Challenge

This is my card for this weeks Mojo Monday sketch challenge. I had a lot of fun with this one and I really like this sketch. I thought I'd go with a funky elegance for this one with the bright green and black. Can you tell I had fun! lol :)

I got this stamp as a RAK from my friend, Nancy. I can't believe it's taken me this long to use it, but I really do love it. Thanks again, so much, Nancy! :)

Here's an angle to show you a bit of dimension and my little layered vellum butterfly.

This is the current Mojo Monday sketch that I followed.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Scroll (Inkadinkado)
Cardstock: Jet Black Linen (CRS), Vellum Cardstock (SU)
Patterned Paper: Sonnets - Foilage (Creative Imaginations), a la Carte - Butternut Squash (American Crafts), a la Carte - Pesto (American Crafts)
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Jet Black (StazOn)
Tools: White Gel Pen (Signo), 1/16" Black Pop Dots (MultiCraft Imports), Scissors, Cuttlebug, Classic and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Embellishments: 5/8" Lime Green with White Polka Dot Satin Ribbon (Michaels)

Hummingbird Wall Hanging

I had a great night out last night with the girls. This wall hanging is one of the fun projects that we did. Val demo'd this one and gave us a little lesson on the color wheel and what colors compliment each other. She also showed us a magazine that featured lots of beautiful Hummingbirds for us to gain some inspiration from to color our own hummingbirds in with our chalks. I had a lot of fun doing this project. I don't play with my chalks nearly enough. They really are so forgiving and fun to use. I'll have to bring them out of hiding! lol :) Thanks so much, Val! This was a great project! :)

Here's a close up of my hummingbird feeding at some petunias. I really like this image a lot. I even stamped off a few extra to play with later. :)
I need to finish the 2nd project and then I'll post it as well.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Hummingbird with Petunias (Inkadinkado), Scroll Design Stampin' Wheel (SU - I can't remember the name, it's hard to see in the picture, but we used it for a border on the wider chocolate layer)
Cardstock: Ivory, Chocolate
Ink: Pealescent Chocolate (Brilliance)
Chalks: Red, Mustard, Orange, Bright Yellow, Light Green, Moss Green
Tools: 1/16" Dimensional Squares, Double-Sided Tape
Embellishments: Yellow Shimmer 1/8" Brown Edged Ribbon (Deborah), Reddish Dew Drops (The Robins Nest)

Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Icing

I made this tonight for our crafty get together. I love anything with pumpkin, so I thought I'd share these. I normally make them with a cream cheese icing, but I decided to go with a chocolate icing tonight instead and I quite like them this way for a change. Yummy! :)

Pumpkin Muffins

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

dash of cloves and allspice

1 tsp. baking soda

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup oil (I use canola)

1 can canned pumpkin (15 oz size)

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda together. Gently mix in sugar. In large mixing bowl, beat 4 eggs until foamy. Add oil and canned pumpkin. Mix until combined. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Do not overbeat. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, fill nonstick muffins tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Recipe yields 15 muffins.

While pumpkin muffins are baking and cooling, you may prepare the chocolate icing for the filling and the topping as shown below.

Chocolate Icing:

2 tsp. instant coffee (optional)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

8 tbsp. margarine

2 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients and add a dollop to each pumpkin muffin after you've taken the top off. Spread the icing to cover the bottom part of the muffin, place the top of the muffin back on and pipe a little dollop on top.

Enjoy! :)

Christmas in July Challenge

I'm really looking forward to going out tonight with the girls for our monthly crafty night. The challenge this time for our local stamper's group is Christmas in July. I have a hard time making Christmas cards in general - let alone in July! I was going to put on some Xmas music just to get in the spirit to make this while drinking some Hot Spiced Mulled Cider, but unfortunately I don't have any apple cider right now. :( So, instead I just decided to take a look at some old Mojo Monday sketches and I saw this one that caught my eye. I found some Xmas themed paper and off I went to get to work.

I chose to use this past Mojo Monday sketch for my card. You can find lots of Julee Tilman's other past sketches for inspiration here.
Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Reindeer (Dollarama)
Cardstock: China Red Linen, Ivory Linen and Jet Black Linen (CRS), Vellum Cardstock (SU)
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Patterned Paper: Christmas Theme Pack (Dollar Store)
Tools: 1/16" Black Pop Dots (MultiCraft Imports), 1 1/2" Circle Punch (Creative Memories), Classic Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Embellishments: Green Brads (Making Memories)

Diva Party Invitations

This is what I've been busy doing today...little diva slumber party invitations for this Friday. I copied a design from the web, but I coloured them in myself just for fun. :) Perhaps I should let the kids take credit for the colouring job! Please don't look too closely...this is a pretty rough job! lol :)

Here's a closeup of the front of the invitation.
Here's a look at the inside. I used Redstar font to write out the details.

Jim's duty on the ship that day, so It'll just be a girls night. I think all the girls will have a fun time with their little friends...although, I might be in the nuthouse come Saturday morning! lol :)

Well, I have to get my craft bag packed for tonight's night out with the girls. I'll post our projects soon.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)