Sewn book and Blog Candy reminder

Howdy, here is your reminder to comment for the blog candy. I still need to get a picture of it, but never have my camera and project in the same room. It's all upstairs on the 3rd floor. I'll be drawing tomorrow evening. Leave your comment on the post previous to this one.

Here is what I worked on today.







I got this idea from my upline Sarah at www.sarahiscrafty.com Great ideas here, go take a look.

Paper is by Scenic route. Lovely isn't it? I put some SU plain pages in there also. The cover size is 5 inches, the inside is 4.5. You need a special ribbon slot punching tool for this project and cloth binding fabric? I used some fabric paper that was from Winners. They had a great line of it. This pkg had mostly shiny ones, but this textured page worked perfectly.

Pages are inserted 2 together and sewn in the accordian style binding. THe ribbon is also sewn into it at this time. Front flaps from the binding are glued to the paper. Don't glue both sides, or it won't allow you to turn the pages fully or properly. The pages of the newly created inside are attached to the cover via the ribbon through the slotted holes.

k, so I can't explain things well. In a few days, I should be able to take you through it with a tutorial. I have another book cut out ready to assemble, so I'll do it in steps.

What are you doing for New Year's Eve? Sarah and her family are coming over for an early celebration. Going to buy some noise makers and streamers for a kiddie countdown. Plan on having a music making time and just some fun all around.

Hope you get to do what you want to do..
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!

Yes, I've not been making much lately, but it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of ya!!

I bought a new Cuttlebug today!! 50% off at Michael's and a gift card from my mother in law. Hello! Can you say, "almost for free" ?
I got it home and it didn't work. Realized it had been used. No packaging or anything. Anyways, I went back to the store after supper, in the horrible, horrible rainstorm. Scary driving. Had it been snow, it would have been whiteout conditions. Thank goodness it wasn't that.

But I digress... I started here to tell you about some blog candy. so what are the goods?

a sampling of my cuttlebug things... Right now, I only have one embossing plate with the circles and the 4 stamp samples that came with the box, BUT I have many quick kutz dies and some from the revolution also. So I can get a good pile going.
Also, I have a take ten card sampler magazine to give away, I'll take pictures of them tomorrow for you.

Really enjoying the downtime after all the hustle and bustle. Especially since DH has 3 days off! It's been a long time since he's had 2 off, so three is amazing. We're being fed well here. (He's the main cook here, so much so, that one evening when I was cooking, my son looked at me and said, "Mom's don't cook! Dad's cook. Why are you cooking?"!!! lol can you believe the 3 yr old mind?

Well, guess I was very chatty here. Now it's your turn,
leave me a note. Tell me something nice or funny about your few days off... or what You'll be doing for New Year's eve.

Draw will be on New Year's Eve.

Thanks for reading and pass the word on.. candy over here!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Hope all is well and under control where you are. My family were all sick with fevers, snotty noses and coughs last week. As long as I can make it until tomorrow afternoon, I'll be ok. I have 3 services to sing, so I have to stay healthy until then.
And oh boy! Have I eaten too much... already? Only been to 2 outings and I'm stuffed. Still.

Here is a book mark I've made for the choir in my church. Simple as I had to make over 40. Mass production overload.

And here is a pic of my family last week digging out from the huge snow storm. This week I was running from the rain! Now all we have left is yucky, dirty snow piles left by the plows. Maybe some fresh stuff will come tonight?

Have a great one.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

growth chart

Here is a gift for my neice. Her mom gave me this challenge. Why a challenge? I needed to mail it! THink about it.
I got the inspiration from Grand River Toy catalogue. They had one there.

I have so many more ideas for embellishing it, but needed to keep it flat for laminating.
I'll post more details tomorrow. Baby is crying for a midnight snack.

cutie pies

This is a fridge magnet I did for my son's friends. They just turned 4. It's about 6x9, I think. Bigger than a 5x7. Whatever the whole fridge magnet was. I usually cut them in half, but I had some bigger embellishments to use for this one.

Things have slowed on the creating front. Thank goodness. I just have a few picture ornaments to make for family. I'll post them when they are made. I'm enjoying taking it easy at night. I went to bed at 8:45 last night and passed out, probably before my son. For the "Late Night Stamper" that is sooo early.:}

Hope you are finding peace in this busy time of year.
Cheers,
Amanda

Craft Fair

Here is my table at a school craft fair. It was a fun day and the 1st fair I've done with my stamping. I did one about 20 years ago in University, but I was a sewer then.
I didn't really make things with the clientele in mind. I used items left over from my other sales and just topped them up a bit. Now that I know what it's like, I'll be better prepared for it next year. It was so cute having grade 4-6 boys looking for presents for their mom or grandmothers.

Kinda happy that there are a number of cards left over. I can now use them for our send outs and not have to go crazy making more. I have a design to make for my down home people, but that's about it.

It's nice to just hang out at night and not feel like i HAVE to go make something. I even watched Hairspray on pay per view last night. oooo.

We're expecting a HUGE storm here overnight. I always say that Toronto is a weather repellant. We never get as much as they predict, but tonight may be different. Just hope I can get to my church job in the morning. and oh, we live on a corner lot. In Toronto, you have to clean your own sidewalks by your house. way fun. Should be fun trying to do that next week when the hubby is away and the 2 kids running on the sidewalk.:}

just a little chatty tonight eh?

Anyhow, I do have an idea for a gift in my head, so I think i will head upstairs to play.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

skate ornaments

See, told ya. More of the same, just a different picture. Don't have time to design any new stuff for the craft fair on Thursday. I hope I can get a bunch of cards done. I'm empty. Need more stock.

Skate is from Quickutz die. I laced the skate using embroidery thread. That's about it.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

tree huntin'

So we finally got our tree today. Was fun. We've been going to the same Boy Scout lot for 3 years now. Ah, the fresh smell of evergreens.
Here is the family... Don't you just love the concentration on Rafael's face as he trims the tree? An little Neve is growing so fast. let's all say it together.. "ahh"

The decorations are from Ikea about 2 years ago. Just a burst of colour! Cmaera flash was into overkill. We decided to go the child friendly route when Rafael was into the getting into everything stage. Thanks goodness, b/c Neve is now at that stage also. We have a bag of our collectable and treasured ornaments which we will add to the tree on the upper portion.

Sorry no pics again today. Got another call for another order. Have to go to work now. Off to my room. Oh lovely room. lol
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Nada

HI there,
thanks for checking in.
Sadly, I have nothing to show you. Nothing completed or new. Just chugging along and mass producing for a craft fair and some orders. I realized that I'm running out of supplies. ACK!! 2 cards and an altered item have been completed up to a point. I have to run around and get more stuff.
We're getting our Christmas tree tomorrow. So I'll show you some pics of that adventure tomorrow night.
THanks for looking,
And happy pre-christmas rush to you too.
Amanda

Reindeer kits

Sorry it's been awhile since I've been here. Just making orders and family things.

So here are the Reindeer kits I talked about earlier.
The reindeer image is a stamp from the QuickKutz Reindeer die. They have foam that you can use to make stamps from their die cuts. I make stamps with all my dies before I use them as dies.
The Dec. circle stamp is from Stampin Up, "perfect Presentation" hostess set.

The poem for the Reindeer noses is one I got from the internet. Sorry, I don't know where I got it from now. On Splitcoast Stampersduring my quest, I think. The candy is from Bulk Barn- Holly Berries. I just picked out the red ones. (they come in a mix of red, green and white.)

The poem for the Magic Reindeer is my own poem. There are many out there and most include glitter. I had a problem finding large amounts of glitter and then there is the little niggling problem of whether the critters will eat the glitter. So I used cupcake decorations- red, white and green. The poem had to reflect that somehow.

Must feed the wee one and continue making stuff!
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

stockings

Ok, first off, apologize for the non quality photos. When I took these, I had no intention of putting them here, just sending them to a friend. They are not even out of the platic packaging, hence, the flash hot spots. But I felt I had to give you something. It's been days since I've been on here.

These stockings are from Quick Kutz die. It was really fun to make, Just punch out a bunch of stockings from various papers and hook the stocking up with a different topper. Then matted for a nice clean look.

I've been busy at some sales, have more coming up and general family, childminding things. And oh yes, the Christmas Caroling season has started. I'll be schlepping around the malls and hangin' out in business lobbies, singin' a merry tune until Dec. 24.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Down East Christmas

Well, how else do you expect Santa to get around? Are you on my Newfie card list? You'll have to wait to see.

Hey, I've not been here since Wednesday? Where was I? oh yes, We went on a date last night to see Holly Cole. Another down easterner. She's a Jazz singer. Her opening act was AMAZING!!!! Michael Kaesehammer. Just sublime! I HAVE to get the cd now. We didn't go out to the lobby during intermission and missed the chance to buy one at the concert. Let me say, this man blew me away. He has the music in him and it comes out!!! Playing with only his left hand and it sounded like a whole piano at one point. He had so much fun with the other 2 guys in the trio. I think they were playing games when the improvs came. Such a great show!!

And I missed the roll over of my counter. Last I was on here I was around 1960 or something. Now I'm over 2100. Whoa. Cool beans. Keep coming back.

k, back to the card. I picked up this stamp at a little shop in Lunenburg, NS on our trip this summer. Had to buy it. I thought about it for a long time, couldn't think of what to do with it. My uncle came over and helped me figure out some colouring. Thanks Braggie.
THe sentiment is from SU "Loads of Love" stamp set. I thought it fit well with this card. you know, boat loads of love, dory loads of love. Kept the rest of the card simple with some paper piercing.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

PMS?

I did it. woohoo. I love it when a plan comes together. Yes, you've seen this tin idea before here. But I LOVE them. I've been working on getting things for Magic Reindeer and Rudolph 's Spare nose kits. Um hello-- where is all the glitter in Toronto? I can't find it anywhere except little vials of it and TONS of glue glitter. But I digress. Like, 1.5 hours looking for the stuff. ok. I'm done.
I had the idea to do the same with a PMS and Menopause kit. Goodies in a bag with a cardstock topper. You'll see what I mean when I show you the reindeer stuff. But as I was driving home (from my unsuccessful quest) I thought of how I can package the "female" kits a little better. Upscale them. Then I thought of the lovely tins.
So here ya go.

I got the PMS blurb from the net on a site called Craft Survival Kits. They have a lot of ideas there. Their suggestions are for M&M's, but I bought Smarties. The only difference is that Smarties have pink and purple. So I tagged the line at the end.

I made up the Menopause blurb m'self. Just thinking of the ladies who are suddenly overcome with da heat and want to jump naiked in the snowbank. I also decided to make a little gift card to go with the tins also.
The nice thing about these tins is that it's all one sheet of paper. Don't you just love the paper out now that have a page of sample prints from the line? Great idea. How often do you cut into your 12x12 scrapbook paper for a little strip? Now you can just buy it that way. Cool beans. Add a bit of ribbon and an embellishment, you have your tin.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda



oh, look what you get when you feed your kid a blue popsicle. No I will not let the baby have one, no matter how much she screams! She already ate all the yellow ones. 2nd child.. she'll eat anything.

little princess

I've been trying to get this post up all day... so here it is,

This set is from Michael's. I bought it yesterday and am disappointed. THe stamp is not cut properly. you can see the lines from the drawing. But I needed to make this card for a party today.

Glitter card from Michael's. ribbon is from Fabricland, I think. I wanted to add a little extra thing to this card, so I put the beads on wire and attached it with the brad form the dollarstore.

Doncha love the sparkles?


Must run, munchkin on my leg..

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

little things

I'm in the middle of several projects right now in varying states of done-ness.
So here are a few little things...

Fun and Fast notes. I did a bunch of these in an evening. Fun to do. Nice as a set to give away as they have all occasions.

And the rain boot from Green Thumb, Papertrey ink. I like the chocolate and pomegranate together. There is a bit much on the card. Oh well. It has been given.

Hoping to finish the other little stocking stuffers and prezzies for my sales tonight. Then take some pics for you.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

All About Me

Here is another example of an info tin. I previously showed a tin for "Baby's Fist Year".

The paper is Stampin' Up, but I'm not sure what it is. I received it in a pack of samplers from my upline. Isn't it lovely though? Love coral and brown together.
K, Covered a band aid tin and added embellishments. The info cards on the inside were designed with my InDesign program on the Mac. I love this program. Since it's the only one I've ever used for publishing (I used to be editor of 2 newsletters, in my other life) I can't compare it with any others. It is easy to use though.

This one is for my neice's birthday so I made a matching card. (Thanks to my cousin's daughter, Morgan, for ideas)
There are 18 tabbed cards. Too many for the tin I think. I can weed them out, but that will be on the next tin. Things like...
Favorites, dislikes, school, friends, family, vacation, animals, hobbies, music, sports etc.

Do ya like the little bookmark? She's an avid reader, so it's another little gift in a gift.

I feel like I'm rambling and not in the mood to do the product recipe, so I'll sign off.

Thanks for looking.
Amanda

Symbols of Solicitude

My hubby brought me back some paper prezzies from his trip. (thanks babe). The handmade papers in these cards inspired the use of Symbols of Solicitude set from Stampin' Up.

They are 3x3 cards on pomegranate cardstock and ink. Not much else to say about it. Pretty straight forward. Oh, the punched circles have some dry embossed trees on them. I had the scrap in the bin and punched out the bits I liked. THe embossing plate came from a treasure of a store in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Must go to bed. it's almost 1:30. I will SOOOO regret this late hour meeting the early morning, 6 am rise with baby in the morning. Yikes!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Golden pine cone

Here is a card made from SU's Peaceful Wishes. As versitile as this set is, I find I'm a little intimidated by it. there are just soo many possibilities and it's kind of a traditional style. I want to make it fancy.

Anyhow, The background DP is actually from a set of 8 cards from Michael's. To get my whole buck 50 worth of it, I've been cutting them in half and pasting them on the front of a plain card. I just can't trek off to Michael's every day.

Pine cone embossed with gold EP, the pine branches were stamped off, with the middle one done 1st and matted with gold paper. I wanted Peaceful wishes sentiment on the card without having to mat another piece of paper, so I stamped it on vellum. Was originally going to put it over the pine cone, but decided on the bottom of the pine brances. Attached the vellum with brads.

Thanks for looking.
Amanda

fairy card 2

Here is another fairy card. Love this set. THe paper is from SU office DP in the spring mini (I think) and teh sentiment is from "It's your birthday." Ribbon I found in my stash.


And here is a pic of my little fairy. She was so proud to wear this hat. She strutted around the room with it on. Such personality for a small kid. (can you feel the looove? lol)

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Fairy card

Here is a non-Christmas card. lol
There's a family b-day is coming up, so I borrowed this retired SU fairy set from a friend. (Thanks Sarah).
I hope the new SU catty has some girlie sets this time. Was very disappointed in that category last time.
The sparkle cardbase comes from Michael's. The turquoise top to her dress is with gel pen. Some sakura sparkles. The beaded ribbon is from Wal-mart. Paper is Basic grey's Phobe. (I think). Make a wish sentiment is from Michael's buck 50 bin.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

sleigh bells ring

Here is a card from SU "Sleigh Bells Ring" I love this set and it's old fashioned look. I cased the layout from this card from basketmom at Splitcoast Stampers, Wednesday, August 1, 2007 entry.

I think I will stamp the holly leaves in blue bayou or pomegranate on the river rock strip so that it stands out a little more.

sorry for the dull photo. It was raining here yesterday, so no nice light. The colours are richer in real life.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

coal bucket card

Here is the card for the previously posted image of the naughty bucket with coal.
THe card base is a thank you card from Michael's. I couldn't resist the silver. For details of products, see first post of naughty bucket.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Chanukah card

Made this last week. It is nothing like to vision I had in my head. it's so far from the vision in my head, that I don't remember the vision in my head anymore! And I thought it was a good vision in my head at the time. Oh well.
I'm showin' ya something.

Chanukah bella from Stamping Bella and the sentiment also.

Man, I'm toast. Why do I feel so dragged when we got an extra hour today?? No late night stamping tonight.
nite.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

more tin ornaments

Here are a few more tin ornaments. I have so many ideas in my head for these. And lucky me, they are easy to make.
1st one is Quickkutz martini glass with "Cheers" Sentiment from Stamping Bella. Background paper from an old xmas stash i got at a 2nd hand sale. And the fake snow. Gotta get me more fake snow.


The 2nd one I LOVE! I'm going to experiment with different colour schemes. more traditonal Christmas colours. Set is from SU, Elegant notes. The holly leaf is QuicKutz dies. Background words are stamped in black stazon. Love the crispness it gives and the Treble clef is silver embossing powder.
Oh yes, the background paper to my 2 photos is from Basic Grey's "Figgy Pudding" Line. Very versatile.

Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend.
Amanda