Remodel of Aspire Card

I liked the Aspire card I did so much that I remade it for a card swap. This one was much easier than the dragon to make!!

I used Wings paper, with Whisper White and Vineyard Berry cardstock. Then inked the image, from the Aspire stamp set, in Juniper and the sentiment in black.

"If you don't leap, you'll never know what it's like to fly."

House of Plague!

So after Valentine's day my entire household got sick (we're still battling the remnants of icky). But I'm back and I'm posting, even if I don't have the next installment of the embossing extravaganza!

Instead I'm going to show you a card I did for a swap!

This card uses the Lucky paper pack and the Birthday Blast stamp set, both are new this catalogue. I used olive embossing powder for the dragon and the green balloon. Let me tell you... cutting things out for a card swap? means lots of cutting!! I made 8 cards... so I cut out 8 dragons and 24 balloons *dies*.

Away Notification!

I'll be on a posting hiatus until after Valentine's day. When I'm back to posting we'll dive into the exciting world of dry emboss! Woo!

Sneak Peek! "Aspire"

Well I may not have liked how the original card looked from my card swap (see previous post for remade card) but I still really liked how the base looked. It just needed another image.

This stamp set is called "Aspire" and will be available in one more week! It has three dancers in different poses, two flourishes (one with the word Aspire) and two phrases. "Dance as if no one is watching," and "If you don't leap, you'll never know what it's like to fly."

I used the Wings paper pack with Juniper ink, the dancer is done in Desert Sand. I topped it off with some wide satin ribbon and some bling.

Thank you to Leisa for taking such a nice photo of the card!

Remade card

I wasn't happy with how my card from the Heat Emboss Resist post turned out, so I changed it up a bit. I switched out the ribbon and the design paper and then my upline, Leisa, took a really nice picture of it for me!

This also happens to be the card I'm using for my part in the "Thank You" card swap I'm hosting! Typically a swap is "5+1" or "7+1" where you make 6 cards, or 8 cards, but get one less back. The extra card is kept by the hostess. In the case of this swap the extra card is joining the donations going to the Ronald McDonald House here in Calgary, Alberta.

I'm really happy with the changes. I'm using Juniper, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy and Black as my colors and the design paper is from the Wings paper collection. The stamp is from Find Your Style, this month's Stamp of the Month.

Thanks for checking in!

Embossing Day Three: Bleaching

Yes, bleaching. You can use bleach while crafting, for many purposes, but this one is one of my favorites.

A few tips before I begin. Wear clothing you don't mind getting dirty or ruined, just in case, bleach is not the same as washable inks! Also, don't work in a small windowless room, it's still BLEACH.

Not all cardstocks work well with bleaching, I suggest testing a corner of the cardstock you want to use (you can still use the other side of the paper). The best kind are the "full bleed" type cardstocks, not the "white core".

I picked three pieces from my scrap bin and, using the Heat Emboss Basics, I heat embossed my image in detail clear. You can use a color embossing powder too, the stamp I was using had a lot of tiny detail and I wanted the color of the paper to shine through.

Once the emboss dried (it doesn't take long) I used a paint brush to spread a little bit of bleach over the areas I wanted to draw attention to. I needed several coats on the baby images. Tip, if it's not going light enough, fast enough, try applying a little bit of heat with your heat tool while the bleach is still wet. Daub with a tissue to take off excess bleach if you put it on a bit thick.

I wasn't really thrilled with how these turned out, I mean, they look great but I couldn't get "into" making a card with them... so they've been added to my decorative scraps collection and may get made into something later.

Thanks for checking in!

Valetine's for Charity

Wow have things been a whirlwind around here! First we all got sick (poor Koen had to miss his friend's birthday party and he was NOT happy about it) then we found out we'll be moving at the end of our lease as the owners would like to sell the house (we would buy but it's a house we'll outgrow in a year or two). So I haven't been posting much as crafting has been limited.

Last night, however, was my monthly "meeting" with my upline Leisa. (We put on reruns of Glee or CSI and papercraft... sometimes with new product). Leisa gave me a HUGE bag of Valentine cards for the Ronald McDonald House that I collect for and I made a few more.

This card uses red cardstock that a friend gave me that was recycled from a closing business, two punches and treat cups from Stampin' Up, and the sentiment is from Clost to My Heart, a stamp set called "A Little Everything".

I wanted to thank everyone who has given me cards to include in the donation drop. As soon as my currect "Thank you" card swap is concluded I'll be taking the whole lot of them in.

Blog Award

Well, I would like to thank Anne Marie for awarding me with the Stylish Blogger Award! Anne Marie has a fabulous blog, she's got an eye for details and it really makes a difference in her projects. Thank you, Anne Marie, for thinking of me!



The rules of this award are simple:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you and link to their blog (done)


2. Share 8 things about yourself


3. Share the award with 8 other "Stylish Bloggers" and share the bloggin' love.

Well... 8 things about me. I'm not even sure what I shared last time I got one of these, so if there's any repeats, please don't be angry!

1. I play World of Warcraft. Actually... my husband and I play World of Warcraft. With my mother. And some of my nephews. And my sister plays now and then. Even my 4 year old knows how to make a character move around and jump in the game! I was playing while in labor with my second baby (the doc said "go home and do something relaxing" so I did!). I was playing 12 hours after my third was born (for those who play, we got 6/12 in ICC10 before Cataclysm came out).
   


2. I love creative writing but most of my writing (that I publish to the web) is based on role playing games that I've played... so World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade.
   


3. I'm very outgoing and creative, I really enjoy "story telling" or "running" the games mentioned in the above point. Think of it like a narrator in a TV show, but the narrator has control over what the "extras" say and do. The "main actors" are other people playing made-up characters and making their own choices. It means I have to be ready for ANYTHING! I love it!
   


4. I plan on home schooling because if I'm going to pay for "free public education" I might as well do it myself and at least know what my kids are learning! I'm very grateful that I'm able to do this and hope that our circumstances don't change so I can continue to do so (Koen starts kindergarten this year!!)
   


5. I'm really nervous about hosting my first monthly stamping group. I've been a consultant with Close to My Heart for four months and I've only co-hosted one card making party... now I'm hosting a monthly group. Panic!
   


6. I hate eating ice cream or pudding or cake with crunchy bits like nuts. I want to mush the ice cream to the roof of my mouth and I can't if there's walnuts in it!
   


7. I never drink enough water. I really should to get myself more hydrated... but, it's so much water!
   


8. I'm really bad at thinking up things to share about myself.

So now I'm to pick 8 people out of the hundred or more blogs I follow to award this to. Wow!

• Starla with StarFireEtc. She's just starting out in the blog-o-sphere and has some absolutely amazing photos. Very striking. She also dabbles in papercrafts. And... she's one of the nicest people I know, I'm glad to be able to call her my friend.
  


• Okay, I know I've picked Leisa with Big Red Scraps before, but she's my friend and my upline and I know she's posting an amazing card today. She's also the founder of the CTMH community with the same name, Big Red Scraps.
  


• Colleen with DragonflyInk Creations also has some pretty amazing stuff, and also happens to be one of my best friends.
  


• Kathy Braun with Lucky Stamper is not someone I know "offline" but I wish I did. She's always got a kind, and sincere, word. Her dog is really sweet too and Kerowyn just loves him to pieces without ever having met him.
  


• Twyla with Tywla's Heart is still relatively new to me but I'm enjoying participating in her many swaps and seeing the projects she posts on her blog.
  


• Jodi with My Creative Expression has a really nice blog too, I always enjoy checking out what she's posted.
  
• I always notice Frances with StampOwl. It may be that she shares my first name, but I think it has more to do with the really great cards she posts!
  
• Stephanne with StagnantlyCreative is also new to me, but her style is fabulous! She goes for an older vintage style, but the images (in her last post, for example) aren't the kind I would think "fit", and they totally do!

Okay, goodness, that took a long time. I think I might follow a few too many blogs. But I can't unfollow any of them, they are all too great!

Thanks again, Anne Marie!

Valentines for Charity

Next month is Valentine's day and while some of us older folks are a bit jaded toward another Hallmark occassion, there are a lot of sick little kids at Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta that would absolutely love to give and to get a Valentine. Since many of them are bed ridden they don't have an opportunity to make a card for mom or dad or siblings, and certainly any parent glued to a child's bedside doesn't want to take time to pick out a card at Walmart.

Normally I would do this as several different swaps over several different websites, but I waited too long so I'm asking for donations instead.

If you're willing to donate a Valentine card or two please email me at ruth(at)stampoffeh(dot)com for my address.

If anyone would like more information on adopting a Ronald McDonald House in your area (to coordinate cards and crafting supplies being donated) let me know, I'm happy to help get you started!!

Thank you!
Ruth

The Hamburger Cupcake

I've seen these hamburger cupcakes on various places around the web and I promised I'd make them for Koen's birthday. Some of you may recall Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes from this summer, which were a total hit. The hamburger cupcakes were easy in theory but I learned a few things that would have made it easier had I known them in advance.


For instance, you want really small cupcakes. Like, less than 1/3 of the cup small. (The package says to fill the cup with batter to 1/3, yeah, no). And you want really thin brownie, I ended up splitting my "paddies" in half!



This all makes more sense if I explain the hamburger cupcake. Bake cupcakes with yellow cake mix. Bake brownies and use a circle cookie cutter to make your burger paddies. Slice baked cupcakes in half horizontally to make your bun. Add yellow, green and red icing on top of your paddy for condiments. For an added touch you can sprinkle sesame seeds on the top (to make them stick moisten your finger and run it over the top of the cupcake). I opted to draw each child's initial on the top of the burger instead.


I also learned that it's actually best to make your "ketchup" kind of runny because kids think it rocks when the icing pours out the side of the burger.


I know they were a hit because every family member Koen spoke to after the party had the same conversation with him...


Family Member: Happy Birthday Koen, did you have a nice party?


Koen: Thank you. We had CUPCAKES, and it was a HAMburger! It was COOL! And there were bababalooons!!


So while they didn't turn out as "pretty" as the hamburger cupcakes I've seen around the web, they turned out just right for my 4 year old. Now to come to terms with being the mother of a 4 year old!!


Thanks for checking in!