A Weekend of Work.....

I am going to keep this one short.....as we are busy busy busy this weekend....building a deck.  

Oh ok...it is not elaborate and schmancy  like the beautiful one in the photo, and we will not be having a hot tub....but we are going to LOVE it when we are done. 

We got all the lumber Thursday night and are working like busy little beavers trying to get the deck done this weekend.  We are also making in dog friendly for Dixie so she can have free run outside without being tied....she is going to LOVE it too. 

I will post some photos of the progress and the end result when I have time to sit down and relax for a few minutes. 

Hope your weekend is going well.  More soon.  

Huggs, 

Shel

Christmas Card Classes

No, I have not lost my marbles (yet) .....I just wanted to announce the dates for my upcoming Christmas Card classes!

I will be holding three separate Christmas card classes this year, one in September, one in October and one in November. 

Last year we tried doing 30 cards in one day and it was VERY long and VERY tiring day! Therefore, this year it is split into three days, which will be more enjoyable, less stressful, and more time to socialize.  

Cards will be different for each class, so if you attend all three classes you will have 30 beautiful handmade cards ready for Christmas mailing, 2 each of 15 designs, includes envelopes. 

Class Dates: Sat Sept 28, Sat Oct 19, Sat Nov 23

Class Time: 1 pm

All supplies will be provided; except you must bring scissors and any adhesives you wish to use. Common adhesives are tape runner or Tombow, sticky strip - double sided tape, mini glue dots, and dimensionals- foam pop dots. 

Tea, coffee and water provided.

Seating is limited so contact me early to reserve your seat. 

Cost: Flat fee of $35.00 or FREE with a $65.00 catalog order. All classes must be prepaid 7 days before the class date, giving me time to cut and prepare for the class.  If you choose to place an order instead of the flat fee, the amount prepaid amount will be applied to your order. 

Pre-Payment via: cash, check, or e-transfer. 
Catalog order payment via: cash, check, e transfer, MasterCard ,or Visa.

Seagulls .....

This is the fourth and final card we made in my June card class.

It features masking, sponging, punching and stamping.....fun!

Bleach Stampin Pinwheel Card

This is the third of four cards we made in my June card class.

It features the Bleach Stamping Technique.

You double over paper towels and make an inkpad on a saucer and carefully add some bleach.

Choose a line image stamp and stamp it in the bleach pad and then onto dark cardstock.  It will just leave a wet mark but will lighten as it dries.  Be very careful not to get this on your clothes and thoroughly wash the stamp immediately after use in bleach.

The stamp set used is Oh Hello page 34, item number 130733 $22.95

Blast from the Past- 3D Project

Here is a blast from the past....this is  jewelry box I made for my granddaughter Brielle's first birthday (she just turned two in May) 

I purchased an unfinished wooden box and prettied it up with some eyelet lace and ruffled ribbon,  I added some spellbinders shapes for background and some awesome silk flowers and paper butterflies.  I think it turned out great.  It sits on her dresser and holds all her hair barettes.  

The Open Sea- Captains Wheel

This is the second of four cards we made in my June card class. 

It features The Open Sea stamp set found on page 101, item number123032, $22.95

This is a GREAT guys card.  It is a specialty fold called a Center Step Card. 

Items used in this card:
Basic Gray cardstock
Night of Navy cardstock
Whisper White cardstock
Embossing Buddy
Versamark
Black Embossing Powder
Asst Inks, sponges and markers for background
Word Window punch
Modern Label punch
Bakers Twine
Silver brads
Circles Framelits

FABULOUS Florets and Whitewashing Technique

This is one of the cards featured in my June card class.  It features the Fabulous Florets stamp set found on page 93, item number 123027 $21.95.

The main technique taught on this card was Whitewashing, but we also did some heat embossing and  added a bit of scoring to jazz it up a little more.

Love the 3D effect, what do you think.....

If you would like to make great cards like this, contact me at 232-7744 to reserve your seat in my next class.  Class schedule is on top of main page of my blog.

Excitement- New Trailer!!!!

Today I am over the moon excited to share with you a personal post.  We bought a new trailer!!!!

Those of you who know me personally know that we used to have a cabin and due to a campground closure we lost everything as it was leased land that we built on. That was over two years ago and we have missed it terribly. 

Mike and I both celebrate our 50th birthdays this year..me on June 22 and Mike on July 29...and this is our present to each other!!!

We have wheels under our new haven....and it is WONDERFUL! It is 34 feet from hitch to bumper.

Here are some photos of our new trailer on our seasonal lot.  We just moved in on Friday, and have some work to do with landscaping and a deck....but that will come. 

 We have two slide outs a huge one in the kitchen and living room and one in the bedroom

 There is a huge storage compartment on the side slide under the king sized bed

 This angle shows our new steps we built Saturday afternoon.

 We stained the steps the same color as our deck chairs we made.

 There is a storage compartment on the back side underneath the closet.

 Here is the bedroom which features a king sized bed- approved by Dixie as you can tell

 Over the bed storage

 Full closet with mirror ed glass sliding doors that goes all the way across the back

 Inside the closet has a full closet bar and there are three deep shelves on either end of the closet

 A computer table in front of the window, with room and hookups for a small tv....but we just put a fan there.  And the bonus is that there is plenty of room for making cards and scrapbook pages too!
 

 View from the screen door in the bedroom

 Toilet in a closet- genius!

 Over the toilet storage shelf

Roof vent with built in fan for toilet closet

 

 

Neo angle shower stall

Inside shower stall

 Medicine Cabinet

Sink and Vanity

Entertainment Center- tv, dvd, radio, cd

 Reclining arm chair

 

 

 

 Stainless Steel Fridge

 Stainless Steel Stove and Range Hood

 

 

Kitchen Sink

Upper cabinets and counter top

Lower cabinets

Wooden Table and 4 Chairs

 Leather sofa that converts to a spare bed in case my grandson comes to visit.

 

Under sofa storage drawer

 

There is also a 4 foot by 8 foot tall by 2 feet deep pantry closet...but I forgot to take  a picture.  I was trying to remember to get all the views but forgot one.  Ooops

Ok, gotta go make lunch for hubby....later!  Come back the rest of the week for some awesome cards !!

 



Scrappin Friday- He's Sew Cool!

Most of you already know , I married a WONDERFUL guy who is totally supportive and makes me laugh everyday. I am so very happy that we found each other!

But did you know that he can actually can take care of himself.....and he will even try to do things that most guys wouldn't even attempt, and I have photographic proof! 

Now dear hubby knows I have made this scrapbook page, and that my scrapbook class girls have seen it...and he knows that I post all my class projects on my blog.....so today, dear hubby is the star of the show!

I am going to give you a bit of background info on this page.  One Sunday a few months ago, I was in  my craft room where I was trying to get card samples made for my upcoming class.  I was having one of those days- you know the kind where you have great intentions, but the creative mojo is just not working.(GRRRR I hate having days like those!) Well most of my cards were hitting the floor as things were not working for me, and I was really getting frustrated. 

Just then, Mike came in and asked me where my sewing machine was.  I really wasn't paying too much attention and when he asked if he could have it, I directed him to where it was stored, and continued with my cards.  

A couple of minutes later it dawned on me what had just happened; and I went out to the dining room where he was starting setup the sewing machine.  I quite frankly was astounded, and  asked him what he was doing.  He said that the hem in his gym pants was out and it was driving him crazy, so he was going to fix it. 

Well this was too good to be true, and I actually ran back to the craft room and grabbed the camera and starting snapping photos.  I could not believe that he was actually going to attempt to sew!

  Well I was eating humble pie by the time the hem was repaired.....I guess way back (many moons ago) when he was a youngin' in school he had to take sewing....and he apparently remembered what he was taught!  

Yes he fixed his gym pants all by himself (and I completely harrassed him the entire time).  I was so proud of him, most men would not even attempt to sew....and he did it and did it quite well!

So, without further ado, here is today's scrapbook layout and dear hubby, my 49 year old sewing star- yeah- he's sew cool! 

Product Talk Thursday- Candy Dots and Brad Bases

Okay....can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Candy Dots embellishments! These little gems are WONDERFUL! 

 They come in the four color families- Brights, Subtles, Regals and Neutrals and they exactly match our cardstocks!  Each package has a whopping 100 pieces- 10 each of 10 colors!
Page 171 Subtles  Item#130933  $7.95
             Brights  Item#130931  $7.95
             Neutrals  Item#130934  $7.95
             Regals  Item#130932  $7.95

Also available are brad bases, tiny brads that you can mount your candy dots on to make a perfectly coordinated brad! When mounted each colored dot will have a silver outline.  How cool is that! Each package has 25 pieces. 

Page 171 item#132293 $3.95

Quick and Easy Blast from the Past- Fabulous Florets

Today we are jumping back in time a couple of years to revisit a clean and simple/quick and easy card: 

This card features stamped background flower images from Fabulous Florets stamp set found on page 93, item#123027 $21.95.  I used a now retired border punch as well as a now retired butterfly punch and Pacific Point cardstock.  You could very easily duplicate this card with current products using Papillon Potpourri stamp set and coordinating punch and a current border punch.  It is a super quick and easy card with a wow factor.

Technique Tuesday- Splatter Tutorial

Splattering Tutorial

Today I wanted to demonstrate some basic techniques for creating different splatter sizes. I like to use the larger Aqua Painter for all of the splattering I do because the bristles hold more ink. I start by filling the Aqua Painter with some Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill and rubbing alcohol. The more ink refill I use, the darker the splatters will be.

Small splatters

Squeeze your Aqua Painter to get some ink into the bristles. Then lightly tap your Aqua Painter on your pointer finger and over your project.

Medium splatters

Squeeze your Aqua Painter to get ink into your bristles. It’s basically the same motion you used with the small splatters—without the tapping . . . and you will want to hold your Aqua Painter more upright. 

Quickly move your Aqua Painter towards your project and stop abruptly. You’re basically trying to fling the ink onto your project.

Big splatters (drops)

Hold your Aqua Painter vertical—and high above your project. Squeeze the Aqua Painter and let it drip onto your project.

Another fun technique you can try is mixing VersaMark Refill with rubbing alcohol. This will leave sticky splatters that you can cover with embossing powder, like our Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. So fun!

Monday Scrapbook Challenge Share

Today's post is a scrapbook challenge share.  

At my scrapbook classes, the girls are encouraged to participate in an at home scrapbook challenge.  They draw a sketch card from a pile, and go home and  use the sketch to create a scrap layout, based on the card they have chosen. This challenge is designed to get their creative juices flowing and keep them creating great scrapbook layouts between classes. 

The next class they bring back the inspiration sketch card and their scrapbook page. I then take a photo of both the sketch and the layout to share and inspire my blog readers.  

Today's  great layout was made by Dorothy.  

Here was her sketch card:

And here is her scrapbook page:

 

What I like is that she took inspiration from the sketch for a 12 x 12 layout and changed it around to accommodate and adapt it beautifully into the 8 x 8 mini album she is making. She did not copy the sketch and try to scale ever item down into her page, but rather picked some key elements and then added her own twist to the page.

I love the brown and turquoise color scheme and the symmetry of the square accents up each side of the page.  Also the coordination of the patterns in the designer series paper is great!  Same pattern just different neutral tones- LOVE IT!

Great job Dorothy!  And thanks so much for sharing your work with my blog readers and inspiring others!

SATURDAY SHARE- TURTLE CROSSING

Last weekend, we visited Creekside Campground, just east of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.  

They have a beautiful park there, with water views, lots of mature treed lots, and amazing people. It is a wonderfully relaxing place and not too far from home.

As we entered the park we saw this little guy- his shell was about one foot in length:

 Of course, as soon as I saw him I grabbed my camera and bailed out of the car to snap a few photos.  I am an east coast girl, and I have never been this close to a turtle before, in fact the only turtles I have seen are in books or tiny little ones in a pet store.

   

He was none to happy about me being so close to him, he kept turning and going in the other direction.  I was surprised at how quickly he could move!  Don't you just love the bright yellow and red markings on his body! 

I was told by other campers, that they are very common in this area and are often seen crossing the road to get from one body of water to another.  I was also told, that there is a big log in the water and that I should watch for multiple turtles on the log - apparently this is a favorite place for them to sun themselves.

I wish my grand kids had been there to see him, but they were off in the Whiteshell in eastern Manitoba fishing for the weekend with their Dad.  I am sure they had memorable moments of their own, similar to mine. I know that both of the boys caught fish, and camped and went in the boat. A good weekend for everyone!