Saturday, February 12, 2011

Blog Candy & Giveaways to check out!

If your interested in visiting some great blogs as well as having a chance at a giveaway check out:

Pinky at http://blueyecicle.blogspot.com/ she has a draw for a Cricut cartridge right now.

Karel at http://karelj.blogspot.com/ is celebrating her birthday with a month long celebration full of prizes.

The Create & Craft team (me, Joe M., Carole, and Betty) are so excited to be launching our new site and blog during the Cricky Across the 50! Blog Hop, we wanted our blog candy to be extra special. So, on Monday 2/14 we’ll pick a winner at random who will be receiving our Your Story package (valued at $229). The winner will be able to create personalized books, albums and journals with ease! Your Story is a thermal book binder with unmatched versatility and is perfect for creating unique gifts, memory books, and a host of paper crafting projects. Go to www.createNcraft.com to get all the details & enter for your chance to win.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

3 Days of Love at Imaginisce

Stop on over at the Imaginisce blog for 3 days of Love. (http://www.imaginisceblog.com/). They are having a “Be Mine” feature showing creations made by the DT. These creations show how they’ve combined ANY and ALL of their Imaginisce products to create Valentine and love layouts, projects and cards! Check out the blog & you’ll definitely be inspired to create too. You also have a chance to win a great prize.

Never-Ending Card

There is a group of five of us friends who meet twice a month to share ideas. We each take a turn teaching a new card, layout or 3D project of our choice. We supply all the materials for our “workshop” and make a kit for each of us.

Two weeks ago it was Cathy’s turn to host the workshop & she taught us all how to create a beautiful Never-Ending Card. I must admit that I am the worst procrastinator as I’ve had this card in my “To Do File” for a long time. I just never seemed to get around to doing one. Thankfully Cathy solved that dilemma for me and helped me to get one project checked off my To Do List.

I was actually surprised at how easily this card came together but then Cathy had the hardest part resolved for us. She had the folding, scoring, cutting, etc all figured out for us & we just followed along with her & put the card together. Sure there were a couple of slip ups as you really have to pay attention to the folds as well as front to back of the card. Fortunately these slip-ups were easily fixed without having to toss the card. In the end we all had a gorgeous Never-Ending Card that we can be proud to display. This one isn’t going to be one that I’d do a mass production of as there is a lot of work involved in it.

This is what the card looks like all tied up with this gorgeous satin ribbon.
Once you untie the ribbon, this is the next view of the card.
Then you flip the flaps back and this is the third view of the card.
The center piece is split and thats where you flip it again to get this next view
Once again along the center split, you fold the flaps back to get the final view of this gorgeous card.
This card is just stunning in real life. The colors are so rich & elegant.

Thank you Cathy for taking the time to teach us how to create such a beautiful card.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The House of Night

Recently I purchased “Awakened”, volume 8 in the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristen Cast. Although this series is written for the young adult, I have really gotten hooked on this series. It definitely keeps you interested & I have enjoyed every book to date. I just wish that it took me longer to read them. lol Now that I’ve finished volume 8, I have to wait until November 2011 until the 9th book comes out. Ten months is just way too long to wait to see what happens next….

Friday, February 4, 2011

It’s Here!!

On Tuesday morning I got a phone call from the Post Office to let me know that there was a parcel there for me that required my signature. Normally they deliver the parcels requiring a signature to your door but because of the snowstorm they weren’t doing it that day. The lady who called me said that I could come in & pick it up. As if! If they weren’t going out to deliver the mail to me in a snowstorm, then I wasn’t going to risk going out to pick up a parcel in the middle of a snowstorm. Not!!

Anyways, I went in yesterday after my Doctor’s appointment & guess what it was?? My new Gypsy!! I ordered it a few weeks ago from Custom Crops. I couldn’t resist their sale price. It also included the bag as well as 2 full pre-loaded cartridges; Gypsy Wanderings & Gypsy Font. Also when I register my Gypsy I get another 5 free cartridges that I can download.

These cartridges are:
Tags, Bags, Boxes and More (not available in retail)
Christmas (not available in retail)
Blackletter (not available in retail)
Printing Press
Indie Art

How could I turn down a deal like that? Basically it’s like getting the Gypsy free when you add up the cost of 7 cartridges. (Try the cost of the cartridges in Canada). I also ended up buying “The Best of Pixar” and “Disney Classics” as they were also on sale. They’ll be fun to use in creating pages for all my Great Nieces & Nephews. I can’t wait to play with these new toys.

Well, enjoy your day & TFL!

The Last of My Fiskateer Online Crop Challenges

Well, yesterday was the last day to complete the challenges for the Fiskateer CHA Online Crop. Thursday’s aren’t really a good day for me. On Thursdays, I get a weekly needle that afterwards leaves me not feeling very well. Normally Thursdays are a wasted day for me & most often I end up sleeping the day away.

I managed to squeeze in a couple more challenges before I left to get my needle. I did try to work on some more last night before the deadline but unfortunately they didn’t get finished. I’ll work on those over the weekend. I also have some Valentine’s Day cards to work on over the weekend for my mother to send out.

Here are the challenges that I did manage to complete. This first card was for the Make & Take Challenge 3 - Leading Lady Feature 1 – the idea was to complete a card or project with a Picnic Theme. The inspiration for this was Chery’s (one of the Lead Fiskateers) Picnic Theme in the Fiskateer lounge at CHA. This was a tough one for me as I didn’t have any picnic type stamps so I created a version of Picnic using my punches. (I did case the idea). I ended up doing an Apron Card. The background was done with a Copic marker & ruler, (I didn’t know until after I completed this that I had a Plaid background stamp. I so need to get organized) the barbeque was done with punches & I also used my Fiskars Limited Edition Ant Squeeze Punch. In the end it turned out ok.
The last challenge that I was able to complete was the SWAG Challenge. Swag is the fun giveaways and promotional items that companies hand out to bring you to their booth or remind you of their company. This could be anything from a cute bag, t-shirt, nail file, funky sunglasses, bracelet or anything in between! For this challenge, we were to make some Fiskateer SWAG! Create an item that will remind you of Fiskateers.

Boy was this a tough one. Talk about having to think outside of the box. I ended up making a Fiskateer clip holder with a mini Fiskars Drill & Squeeze Punch on it. In the end, it turned out pretty cute. (It sure wasn’t fun making those tiny little tools lol). Here’s my take on the challenge:
Well, I'm off to see the surgeon this morning about having a knee replacement done. It's basically a matter of me telling him when I'm ready. If it wasn't for the pain, I'd never be ready as I'm terrified.

Have a great day & TFL!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Fiskateer CHA Online Crop 2.0 Challenges Completed

I spent several hours yesterday working on completing some of the challenges for the Fiskateer Online Crop. So far I’ve managed to complete 8 of the challenges that required us to create something. Here are some more of the finished challenges.

This first card was for the Make and Take Challenge 1- The Creative Connection where we had to create a card for a fellow crafty friend. If we mail it we get an extra chance to win. This card is much prettier in real life but unfortunately you can’t see all the glitter since due to poor lighting, I had to scan it. Here’s my card:
The next card was for the Fiska-Fairy tweet tweet RAK. For this challenge we had to make something with a bird and/or a birdhouse on it. Here’s my card:
My third card was for the Make and Take Challenge 9 - Leading Ladies Feature 3 challenge. This challenge was based on Angela & Rebecca’s theme “Cocktail Party” in the Fiskateer Lounge at CHA. We had to create a project with the theme of “Cocktail Party” as your inspiration. Here’s my card:
My 4th card was for Nancy’s Fiska Fairy RAK where we had to create a card. It can be for a birthday, anniversary, holiday or any occasion that you need a card for. I had bought this car stamp some time ago & thought that it’d be a perfect “Get Well” card for a man. The verse inside says “Heard you are in the shop for repairs”. I don’t have many masculine cards on hand & thought that this would be the perfect opportunity. Here’s my card:
My 5th card was for the Make and Take Challenge 11 - Color My World. Each year Pantone picks color of the year. Our challenge to you is to create a project based on the 2011 color of the year. This year’s color is Honeysuckle. I had bought this embossing folder from Crafts Too called "Leafy Tree" and hadn't yet used it. When I was looking at it, I kept seeing hearts. So that's what I did. Added some hearts and glitter to it. A very simple card. Here’s my take on this challenge:
I also completed the Make & Take Challenge 4 Create a bank of any type to save money for all of those purchases you'll want to be making. I want to try & take another picture of this one before posting it. The lighting in my place is really poor at night & I couldn’t get a good picture of it. I’ll try again today.

Well there are still a few challenges open that I’d like to try to complete. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do but I’d like to try.

Stay warm & have a great day. TFL!

Winter Storm Update

Well, our winter storm didn’t turn out to be as bad as predicted. By the time my son got up for work the roads looked pretty good. It didn’t take him long to clear off his car & get out of the laneway (without shoveling I might add). He called me when he got to work & said that the roads were pretty good. (He has a 10 mile commute). It started snowing again later in the morning & it was pretty heavy at times. I felt sorry for my nephew when he came to shovel the snow as it was pretty heavy & there was a lot of it. Fortunately for him our neighbor had already gone by with his snow blower & did the front walkway. That alone saved him a lot of work as we live on a corner lot & own almost half the block. That’s a lot of walk way to have to shovel. Another neighbor came by last night & shoveled to my front door for me last night. I am so blessed to have neighbors who take care of the winter shoveling for us without wanting anything in return.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Happy Groundhog Day & Winter Storm

It’s certainly been an interesting night. It was snowing & blowing like crazy last night when I went to bed. The wind was also blowing most of the night. I’m an early riser (Too early in my opinion. It’s part of my fibromyalgia that I can’t stay asleep for more than 2 or 3 hrs) and when I got up I could hear the ice pellets hitting the side of the house. We must have had at least 3 hrs of ice pellets/freezing rain. The snow is still coming down lightly and there is a bit of a wind but then I’m in a rather sheltered area. The snowplow went past my house a few minutes ago & I am sure that the roads are treacherous. I’m glad that I don’t have to go out today & hope that my son will be able to skip work too. I hate to think of him out on the roads driving to work.

It’ll be fun trying to clear all that ice from my vehicle. I’m going to have to sweet talk my son into doing it for me. These days I have difficulties even trying to clear the snow off my vehicle, let alone ice.

If that Groundhog is smart, he’ll stay inside today too. I plan on working on finishing up some of the challenges for the Fiskateer Online Crop.
It sounds like another round of ice pellets is starting up. Stay warm & safe.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

CHA 2.0 Fiskateers Online Crop

The past few days I have been taking part in the Fiskateer CHA 2.0 Online Crop. Each day there have been challenges & RAK’s to participate in. I’ve really been enjoying the challenges which have slowly been helping me to find my mojo again. I haven’t crafted for so long that it’s really been difficult for me to get back into it again. That’s what I love about the Fiskateer Online Crops as they give me the motivation that I need with the various challenges. I enjoy doing things that I probably never would have if I didn’t participate. I have a few things to show you that I have created for the challenges.

This first card was created for a challenge by Jeannie where we had to make a card or page with a fairy tale theme! I made the angel wings by using a Stampin Up stamp & inked it up with Stazon on a piece of acetate. My idea was to cover it with Flower Soft but I didn't like the looks of it so I just left the wings as they were & attached them with my glue gun.
The next challenge I did was The Leading Lady Feature 2 Challenge where we had to create a project with the theme of “Tea Time” as your inspiration. This challenge was created for Tami (one of the Lead Fiskateers) who's theme for the Fiskateer Lounge at CHA was “Tea Time.” Here's my card for that challenge:
I hope to get caught up on some of the other challenges as today is the last day of the online crop. Fortunately the deadline for most of the challenges is the 3rd of February so I still have time.

Join us on the Fiskateer Message Board from January 29, 2011 - February 1, 2011 for CHA 2.0 - Online Crop Edition.