Laura Evylin Cinefro!

I have a new grand-niece!

Introducing Laura Evlyin Cinefro!
Born June 26, 2012

She's named after my sister, Laura Ann. And her great-great grandmother, Ruth Evylin and mother, Jessica Evylin. I love that Jess and Nate followed OLD Norwegian tradition naming children after their grandparents. (Ever wonder why there were so many Ole Olson's in the world?? grin)

I wanted to make a WELCOME BABY card that was an expression of me. I think the paper is a My Mind's Eye Valentine paper. But who said Valentine paper was just for Valentine's Day? The Red Lead faerie was stamped over the word LOVE. "WELCOME BABY" is from a PaperTrey Ink set.  I did a quick watercolor for her dress and used a glitter pen over her wings.

Of course big brother, Julian, who isn't quite 2yrs old yet also needed a card.  This little turtle from Inky Antics caught my eye.

Because he has a fun pop-up shell in the middle.

The Copics I used to color the turtle.

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club: October (2010)

If you've been reading my blog for a while (over a year) you know that 2 years ago for Christmas, I gave my family and friends a membership to "Deb's Recipe of the Month Club". Each month I would re-do a family favorite and send it out.

And I was doing REALLY GOOD! Until I went back to work (after being unemployed for 3 months). And my new schedule threw my life into chaos.

I'm happy to say that I'm back on track (for the most part) even if it has been a year since the last installment!

Marli's Pea Soup is a new family favorite. I love rich pea soap when the snow is flying. Marli is one of my mom's good friends and she had a great recipe for pea soup. So the recipe in my head became....(grin).

This is pretty basic. I don't do CAS very well and struggled to leave it as is. The vine helped in the end (Hero Arts).


Stamps: PaperTrey Ink, Hero Arts
Inks: VersaColor Bamboo
Papers: green cardstock
Accessories: ribbon, pebble rhinestones

Spooky Anniversary Card

Let’s be clear….I don’t do card requests.

I can barely get my own cards done (we’re not talking mailed…just done). So I don’t create for my family and friends.

But I made an exception for this card. My friend called and asked me to do a wedding anniversary card. The couple in question was married on Oct 31st and according to the lady, they’ve never received a Halloween type anniversary card.

After 58 years...they deserve a spooky anniversary card!

Stamps: Cosmo Cricket
Inks: Versamark & glue pad
Papers: Martha Stewart, Basic Grey scrap
Accessories: Martha web punch, PaperTrey Ink number dies, lime glitter, white embossing powder, ribbon scrap, orange sequin, black rhinestone

Calendar Pages

For stocking stuffers this year, I gave my family members a desk calender. The past several years, A Muse has produced a calendar set (in several sizes) and the proceeds go to charity. This year's charity was CHARLEY'S FUND.

The calendar comes as a PDF file that you print on your choice of paper. My friend, Heather, printed hers on colored paper and used chalk inks. I decided to go white (Neenah Solar White). I also wanted to stay away from "holiday" themes. My original idea was to do each season with one set of stamps and use different colors for each month. I only made it thru WINTER (Dec, Jan, Feb) with the same stamp. LOL...so much for a plan!

WINTER - Snowflakes


Stamps: Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous

SPRING - Florals
Hero Arts
Memory Box
A Muse

SUMMER - Here the theme fell apart but I started with the idea of "bugs" - as in butterfiles, ladybugs, etc.

Memory Box
PaperTrey Ink
A Muse & Hero Arts

FALL - HARVEST
Hero Arts
Inkadinkado
A Muse

All the pages were dotted with Stickles for BLING. And finally the 4x6 sets were put in these "CD" cases.

Julian Michael Cinefro

I think I told you about the new man in my life...my grand nephew, Julian.

Julian was born on Oct 22nd. That was the weekend I was headed back to New Jersey to teach at One Little Spark in Tuckerton. In fact, Julian's daddy called me as I was headed to the airport.

I finally got to meet the newest member of the family last weekend. My niece and her hubby invited the entire Corder Clan (we're not that big...only 4 additional people) to their new house in Nashville.

I loved this Webster's Pages paper but it was such a large image (the bottom quarter of a 12x12), that I didn't want to cover it with a lot. So I tried my hand at the rosette. I don't have Tim's fancy die and can't see spending all that money for one when you can make one simply enough. Figure out how big you want the end circle (3 inches for me). Cut a strip of paper 1/2 that width (1.5 incehs). And score every 1/2 inch. Then flip over the paper, offset by a 1/4 inch and score every 1/2 inch. This creates valleys and mountains to help you fold the paper. Fold in sections. I used Glossy Accents and that new glass glitter on the edge of the medallion.

The "Welcome Baby" was from a PaperTrey Ink set. And I sponged color while the Nestie was still in place.

Here's Julian in his reindeer suit blowing bubbles a few days after Christmas. He's such a cute cuddly guy. But he is a big baby! With a mother that's 5'11" and a father that's 6'4" - well is it any wonder that he's 97 percentile at 2 months? (BIG GRIN)

Did you know that I knit? I only knit socks. This was my first try at baby socks (and cabling). Purple is Daddy's favorite color. I'm glad they fit!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'll have an announcement tomorrow...check back!

Deb's Recipe of the Month Club - August

It may seem that I'm a bit late in the month (again) for the Recipe of the Month club. But I've been "working" on this for a while - at least in my head.

All the other recipes I've done have suggested the stamps and direction I needed to go - but this one. CALICO BEANS was hard! In my mind "calico" is for quilts and I toyed with sewing ideas. In the end I found this great Basic Grey paper that looked "calico" like and went for a very simple card. The ladybug came about because there are small ladybugs scattered on the paper.

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink LITTLE LADY
Paper: Basic Grey JUNEBUG, black cardstock
Ink: VersaMagic Aquatic Splash & Red Magic; Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: K&Company flowers, mini black rhinestones

I also added a library pocket on the back for the original recipe. Here mine is with my mom's handwritten recipe safely tucked away.

La Jardin Thank You

I couldn't get a good picture of this card...the light was just WRONG. (The shiny Bazzill card stock didn't help...)

Another Thank You card done! I was highly inspired by this tutorial by Julia Stainton.

The butterflies in white on the background paper were just that extra touch. The rest is pretty basic!

Stamps: Oxford Impressions LA JARDIN; PaperTrey Ink sentiment (Little Lady?)
Paper: Bazzill cardstock; Basic Grey PERHAPS
Ink: Distress Ink
Accessories: rhinestone, clear EP, Prima flower

Valentine Card - Baking Cookies Tilda

I've finally started my Valentine cards! I'm in two card kit swaps that are wrapping up this week. This is one of the kits I provided.

The kit included 2 double-sided papers - here I used one paper (both sides) and a brown out of my own stash. I also used my Slice for the pink swirl on the bottom (you can kind of see it under the pink pearls). And a new branch punch from EK Success.

I also used the Mojo Monday sketch from last week but didn't get this card done in time to submit it. Ah, well...c'est la vie!

Stamps: Magnolida BAKING COOKIES, PaperTrey Ink VINTAGE LABELS, and Stampin Up! EN FRANCAIS
Paper: brown, cream, and double-sided DP
Ink: Memento, Distress Ink: Worn Lipstick
Accessories: glitter, copics, pearls, branch punch, Slice, ribbon, paper flowers, Nestablities

Tag Tuesday Challenge #26 - Red, Green and Golden Yellow Christmas

I've been working on some challenges! I have a ton I want to do because they all sounds so fun!
This is week 2 of the COLORS OF CHRISTMAS challenge on Tag Tuesday. This week is red, green and golden yellow. My first thought went to this holly paper. It's my new favorite because it's so gorgeous! I did use a manila tag as the base but cut cover paper. The Santa stamp is also one of my favorites! I wanted him to be a "vision", so I tucked him into the holly. "BELIEVE" was stamped in glue and then covered with red glitter. Distressed edges, photo corner, and silk holly to finish! (oh..and I didn't use my Martha holly punch this time, but only because the scale was wrong).

Stamps: Rubber Stampede SANTA COLLAGE, PaperTrey BELIEVE (sentiment)
Paper: tag, BoBunny ST.NICK HOLLY BERRY
Ink: Distress Ink: Fired Brick , glue pad
Accessories: glitter, Making Memories silk holly leaves, Ideaology metal photo corners, and ribbon.

GRATEFUL!

There's a current trend on different blogs and on Facebook to say what you're grateful for each day.

I'm grateful for many things:
* My family - we seem to actually like/love/respect each other and I know that's not true for every family out there. So, I'm grateful for our relationship. (I just wish most of you lived closer!!)
* My friends- old & new - I am grateful for our alikeness and differences. To my stamping buds, I wish I could meet you all in person but I love seeing your work electronically. You inspire me!
* My job - times are tough and I'm grateful everyday for the paycheck at the end of the week. And the ability to work from home.
* My created outlet - I've always been "crafty" as my family calls it. Be that needlework, scrapbooking/cardmaking, or baking bread. The process recharges my batteries!
* My home/health - as my friend Julie pointed out on her blog yesterday. There are a lot of people that don't have one/the other/both.

And on to my KLSNS blog entry for today! The card background was dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: BIRDS AND SWIRLS. The large panel print is Basic Grey INDIAN SUMMER. And the main panel is Whisper White stamped with Basic Grey's FAUNA set. I stamped along the edges leaving a good deal of "white space", then stamped "GRATEFUL" from PaperTrey's GRATEFUL set in Brilliance black. When all the ink was dry, I went back over the round Pomegranate leaves and used Magenta Stickles to add some bling. I used this weeks' SCS sketch (SC255) for the layout.

Stamps: Basic Gray FAUNA stamp set, PTI GRATEFUL (sentiment)
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Basic Grey INDIAN SUMMER
Ink: SU! Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard
Accessories: SU! Purely Pomegranate double stitch ribbon, Stickles, and Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Birds & Swirls

VSN #5 - BENVENUTI al CARNIVALE di VENEZIA!

HI! Welcome to my challenge! Please join me on the SCS VSN thread and play along!

My sister teaches high school math/science at Aviano High School, Aviano Air Force Base, Italy which is an hour north of Venice, Italy. We visit from time to time and in 2001, we went to Carnivale (the Italian version of Mardi Gras). Unlike it’s New Orleans counter part, this is more Masquerade Ball than Street Party. The denizens of Venice spend up to a year on costumes to be displayed in San Marco Square during the festivities. These elegant costumes are head to toe FABULOUS! I took over 20 pictures of costumes and narrowing it down to 4 to share was nearly impossible.

My challenge is for you: Using one of the costume patterns listed below create your own card. Remember, the Venice Carnival is all about opulence! Check the challenge thread for the specific requirements related to each picture!

THE GHOST
The challenge picture.

My version of the challenge.

Stamps: Magnolia EDWIN'S SNOWMAN
Paper: acetate, metallic aqua,
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: rub-ons, ribbon (unraveled grosgrain), COPICS, paper snowflakes, rhinestones

THE LADY IN RED
The challenge picture.


My version of the challenge.

Stamps: Stampin Up! FRIENDS 24-7
Paper: white, SU! Real Red, Summer Sun
Ink: SU! Real Red, Summer Sun
Accessories: Heidi Swapp Mask, Glimmer Mist: Candy Apple Red, Sunflower, Nestabilities tag & ovals, embossing folders, paper piercer, and rhinestones.

BAROQUE COUPLE
The challenge picture.

My version of the challenge.

Stamps: Magnolia NEW YEARS TILDA, Stampin Up! WONDERFUL WORDS
Paper: black, white, cream, metallic gold
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Nestablities Lacy Border, EK Success border punch, gold glimmer pen, polka dot ribbon, gold fringe cord, rhinestones, Copics, and Glossy Accents (on her shoes).

THE SUNFLOWER
The challenge picture.

My version of the challenge

Stamps: Stampin Up! SUNFLOWERS, Stampendous GRASSHOPPER, PaperTrey Ink MIXED MESSAGES
Paper: Cream and white mulberry paper
Ink: Brilliance Black
Accessories: Clear EP, Glimmer Mist: Patina, Sunflower, Key Lime Pie, Prima flower (sprayed with Sunflower), button, Scrapper's Floss, Sizzix ARCHITECTURAL ACCENTS and tag, green glimmer pen.

Hope you play along!

Clean and Simple (CAS)

I've been cleaning and reorganizing my craft space lately. First, I have a good friend coming for a visit and this will be the first time she's been in my new house. Second, I have LOTS of stamps that I don't even remember buying, much less using. That's a bad thing.

When I needed an anniversary card, I thought of my PaperTrey Ink stamps that almost never see the light of day. I started sorting them and found LITTLE LADY. I've also been trying to think out side of the box for cards lately. I tend to do the "same" card over and over. Same papers, same colors, same style.


So I wanted not traditional colors. So I searched through my scrap bin and found this paper. I just love the soft springy colors!


Here's the finished card. No layers. Simple colors. My only "traditional" element was the ribbon. The great thing about acrylic stamps like the LITTLE LADY set is that you can manipulate some of the stamps. The verse is a single straight line. However, the acrylic is pliant enough for me to make it wave. It's a great look!


Stamps: PaperTrey Ink LITTLE LADY
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: VersaMagic TEA LEAVES, AQUATIC SPLASH, ALOE VERA; Colorbox ROUGE, and SU! Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Ribbon