Tweet Tweet

I am working on making 30 of these:Need them to swap this weekend.
I've made just this one so far.
But all the glittering and coloring is done.
(Thanks for the markers!!)
So it shouldn't be that hard, right???
But I also have 7 more projects to make and some treats.
And about a thousand other things.
Does anyone else have a hard time saying no?
Taking on a project you think will be no sweat and lose interest half way through?
Or is that just me?
Btw...card uses the Love Ya Bunches stamp set, Slit Punch, Word Window Punch, Red Gingham Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds and On the Spot Background stamp (which is kinda hard to see in this picture).

HApPy bIRtHdaY eLizABetH!

Happy Happy Birthday to You!!!Paper from Stampin' Up! (Loves Me Designer Paper), Rubon: KI Memories, Flower: Heidi Swapp, Charm: K & Company, Heart Eyelet and Ribbon: Stampin' Up!, Gems: Hero Arts.
It's on it's way to you!! Love ya!

Spring is in My House!

After all the snow we got last week, I thought for sure I would still be trying to survive a Chicago winter, but alas, in typical Chicago wacky weather fashion, it warmed up to 50 degrees this week and all the snow has disappeared.
Just in time too! I just got the new Spring Papers from SU! that will appear in the upcoming Spring Mini Catalog and all that snow did not put me in a springy mood. I finally played with the paper that is absolutely fabulous, double-sided, which is my favorite and beautiful colors.

I cranked out 20 of these babies for my swap. I hope it is fabulous enough to appease the swap gods.

I used the new stamp sets, Polka Dots and Paisley and Polka Dots and Petals. Man, I get those names screwed up!

The paperline is caleld Polka Dots and Petals too, I think. I added some Dazzling Diamonds to the flowers on the paper with just a 2 Way Glue Pen to give it some sparkle. Looks fabulous but now I am offically infested with glitter in the house and if there is one thing I can't stand it's the glitter! Ahh, what I do for my craft. LOL

The card is Regal Rose and stamped in the same color ink. The center focus is a Whisper White cardstock mounted on Pretty in Pink and is stamped with Summer Sun (doesn't that sound warm and wonderful), Old Olive and Regal Rose. That scalloped edge was made with my Slit Punch. The Tip was featured on this blog entry in case you missed it. I used the Slot punch to make way for a strip of the patterned paper and White Grosgrain.

At the top I used my Word Window punch to make those two accent pieces and added two Pretty in Pink brads. I love these, the color is so creamy looking. I hope that made sense.

Sellabration is coming to an end, I still haven't mounted any sets. Maybe next week. Also, I am working on a tutorial for my Pinwheel Spinner Card. Many people have asked me, so I am working on a new sample and a complete How-To.

I am heading out of town this weekend so I can visit my baby brother at college and pretend I am young and stupid again. He has promised to let me use the Canon Rebel XT Digital (my secret crush) because he gets to use it for his Photography class. He also mentioned setting up a photo shoot and even getting the travel lights....Yippee! This is why he is my favorite person. Too bad they are calling for freezing rain, guess we will have to take our photo shoot on the road. If anyone has any great ideas for shots, photos, etc...Pass it along. I have a big project coming up that I need to have amazing photos for!

Have a great weekend.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Happy Fat Tuesday!
It seems only appropriate that I discuss Food first on this special day, so I will try to catch up on the latest happenings swirling in our lives.

Last weekend, while my brother was home visiting from college we went and checked out a new restaurant. (new to us, not new to the city) A place that specializes in Mini Food. I know what your thinking...Mini Food? You mean like smaller food? Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking and exactly what it was. I was intrigued at the notion of tiny food, perhaps making it seem that you are eating so much more or maybe so cute that the appearance of the food would make it all worth while.


So we headed to Lincoln Park to check out Minnies. I had my terrible digi camera in my purse, not sure why? but I tried to get some photos of the tiny bottle of sprite Max had to have and he insisted on getting in the picture. I also took a picture of the mini sandwiches but the pictures were so crappy, I'm not even gonna waste your time. You can catch a good look at them by checking out their website.
The place itself is adorable and I was so excited to get parking on the same block it made it that much better! It is all decorated in black, white and red in a 40s theme, full counter and soda shoppe in the front and then restaraunt in the rear. Very cute!
The food was OK. Nothing special and I thought it should have been for the price. The sandwiches were definitely cute and the small drinks just adorable, especially Max's tiny butterscotch shake, but for $4 it should have knocked my socks off. I mean, the glass could not have been more than 6 ounces. They did have a special of 3 sandwiches, fries and a tiny caarafe of wine (8 oz) for $13, so that may have been a better deal.
Enjoyable nonetheless.

Last week was VD and I did make just a couple projects to share. I am not a fan of VD but thought it a good opportunity to make a Chipboard box for my brother and give Max a little something. It seems like I am always crafting something for someone else or for a class or a fair, that the poor kid never gets any special handmade gift. So he got this little chipboard card.
I am lucky to have a coaster supplier so I get them for free and had a ton laying around. I made this little box and treats for my brother and sent it along with him down to school. Figured he deserved a little something because he is an awesome brother.
Both of these projects uses the Loves Me Designer Paper. Figured I should use it up because VD is now behind us. And the little box spells out N-A-T-E with Headline alphabets from SU! The rubons are the HS fuzzy ones and although they take a little practice, they are pretty cool.

February is almost over and I haven't even mounted one of my SAB sets! Yikes. With swaps due, an upcoming craft fair, a training seminar next weekend that I am demoing at, birthdays, classes and a huge contest I need to get going on...there is not enough time in the day it seems.

My computer at home is sick, or overworked. Apparently I have no more memory left. That's what I get for having thousands of songs! So, I'm not sure how to resolve that problem. If anyone has any ideas, tips, info on external hard drives...Send it my way!
Happy Fat Tuesday, don't forget to get your free pancakes, I think Max and I may head over to eat a stack.

We're Infected!

Max came down with just a sore throat over the weekend but it progressively got worse. I could tell there was something wrong because even though there was no school yesterday, so he had off to begin with, he wasn't running like a madman around the house at all. Then, last night he was up at 3am telling me all about his neck pain and demanding tylenol, he finally fell back to sleep at 4:30.
I took him to the doctor's office this morning at the peek of rush hour and a snow storm, it only took a couple hours. Nothing like being trapped in a car with a sick kid for a couple hours.
Turns out, the mom instincts were right...We are now infected with the strep.
Hopefully after a full day of drugs we will be all better tomorrow.


Today's card is made with the Polkas and Paisley set I got as a Christmas present from Stampin Up! I love the paisleys and now that Greta and Elizabeth both me a set of markers for my birthday, it is a lot easier to get the flower in the colors I want.
This card uses: Regal Rose, Cool Caribean, Black and White Cardstock, White Signo Gel Pen (one of the greatest things in the whole catalog!!), Regal Rose Classic Ink and White Craft Ink, White Grosgrain Ribbon and my crimper.

The 2nd card uses the same stamp set that will be in the upcoming catalog starting March 1st, so don't look for it until then. I made this card a while back for my friend Connie's birthday and it is much nicer in person, my picture does it no justice.
I used the White Signo Gel Pen on this one to "color in" the petals of the flower. It really makes them POP.
This card uses: Turquoise, Regal Rose and White Cardstock, White Signo Gel Pen, Black, Regal Rose and White Ink, and White Grosgrain Ribbon. Also used the "birthday" from the Happy Everything Stamp Set.

Again, a super simple card but jazzed up with the white pen. I love that pen!

Look for this set and its matching sets in papers next month, they are wonderful and completely affordable. All these spring color combos are making me dread going back out into the snow that is still coming down like a banshee outside.

What I have been Up To...

A little catch up and I preface this with a dual apology...Sorry for the length of this post and the horrid quality of these photos. My digital camera is a piece of crap, which I have said a thousand times before and the recipes pages were photographed at 7:45 this morning and I am not really at my best at that hour. So sorry, they are waaaayyyy better than they appear. I also forgot to take a picture of my sisters page which was designed by my pseudo-sis, Katie, it is amazing and hopefully the anticipation of seeing this amazing work will make up for the lack of preview.

First, the rest of the recipe pages:
April's cool Digi Page, better photo of it on her blog
Connie's Le Chef
Katie's Corn Cake Mine MineOh, this one is mine too If nothing else you can say I am a reliable host, I always fill in as needed and 42 recipe pages later, I am exhausted!

Last Saturday, I got up at the crack of dawn so my mom and I could take Max to see Body World 2 at the Museum of Science and Industry. He brought home the best report card he has ever had in his school career and what he really wanted as a reward was to see this exhibit. With the cost of museums around here I thought I would have to save up for a month just to have enough to pay for the parking, but lucky for us, last Saturday was a Free day, so we only had to pay for the Body World exhibit. (and it was not cheap!) This is a little snapshot of the museum as we drove by and missed the parking garage because I was taking this picture and not giving good driving directions.

Max loved the exhibit because it was just the perfect amount of interesting and creepy for him. I thought it was facinating but definitely not for the faint. There were no photos allowed in the exhibit which really sucked, but we took a few while we were walking around the museum.

Max ran up to this and exclaimed with joy, "Check it out mom, a double helix" Then explained DNA to me in detail. Gotta love a kid that understands the cloning process at 11, maybe he'll make me some money when he is older. In case you are wondering what the heck he is doing in this picture, it's the robot...He thought it was the appropriate pose for the double helix. Yes, that's my kid!
We saw the sub exhibit too which was closed the last time we were there. Max wanted to go in the sub but all the tickets were sold by the time we made it down there at 11am. I didn't really care about seeing the inner guts of the sub and really had no interest in paying any other additional fee, so that worked out just fine.
He wanted very desperately for me to get a picture that made it appear that he was standing with this guys from the sub exhibit but unfortunately I had the crappy digital camera and he was not happy with the results. I just let him know that this was the exact reason that Mommy needs to buy that super expensive digital camera so that he can get the shots he wants. I hope that works as an excuse.
Big plans this weekend....get those swaps in the mail, visit with my brother who will be home from college life for the weekend, a whole lot of nothing and meet up with Connie at the Archivers on Sunday at noon. If anyone else wants to join us, let me know. I will have swaps for all the local gals.
Have a great weekend!

Glimpse of Spring

It is still f-f-f-freeeezzziinnngggg here, but it has warmed up a tad, it was 10 degrees today...Heatwave! We have been trying to stay indoors as much as possible and I am dressing in layers, lots and lots of layers. The worst part about the cold is that my hands are just so cold I am typing at half speed.
I made this page a couple weeks ago, it is one set of my parents. The picture is from our photo shoot with April in November. I love this picture because they look so natural, it is actually how they smile, it isn't forced.
Now that I look at the page and all the flowers (which are all dry embossed and cut out), it reminds me that spring is right around the corner. Just won't get here fast enough for me.
For everyone wondering about the Recipe Swaps, they are all in as of today and will go out in the mail on Saturday, the latest. With an easygoing swap you have to account for some slower people or things coming up and just go with the flow.

I will post the rest of the pages tomorrow, hopefully.

Perfect Time of the Year for Crafting!

With a high of 2 degrees today and a windchill of 32 below zero, I really did not even want to leave the house today. Max kept me focused on the fact it was Monday though and we faced the brisk chill and made our way to work and school today. Alot of the schools were closed today but not ours...drat!
This is the time of year to stay inside and what better indoor activty than crafting. I finished a baby blanket for my cousin who had her shower yesterday...forgot to take a picture. The recipe swaps are ALMOST all in, there are just two more I am waiting on and in typical Simone-fashion I am being gently insistent that I need them yesterday.
All my samples for my March training in Michigan are finished, now it is on to swaps and a huge SU! contest that I truly must win.
Today's card is one of my favorites that is going to be featured in March. It uses the Love without End classy brass to make the flowers. I used the On The Spot Background Stamp to stamp with white ink on the red for the background. Also, it is hard to tell, but the circle stamp at the bottom (Riveting) is also dry embossed to give it a little more oomph.
I added those red eyelets using my Cropodile. Does everyone know what that is? It is seriously the best tool I bought last year, hands down. So simple to use and can punch through anything like butter. I am totally using up my pile of eyelets now that I have this handy little tool.

Recipe Pages

Here is a preview of some of the pages that I have received so far:

Greta's Mom's Page:


Elizabeth's Page:


Greta's Page:


Debbie's Page:

Carol's Page:Mimi's Page:
That is enough of a peek for now....More pages later. Btw, love them ALL.
And I hear that it is De-Lurker Week, so leave a comment on this thread and perhaps an extra set of pages will make their way to you!! Max will pick a winner next week, stay tuned.