Sending out My Sympathies

I am proud to say that I managed to get a little crafting in over the weekend...not quite as much as I was hoping to do, but I have to start somewhere! Still behind on some birthday and anniversary cards and the Christmas cards still have yet to be designed, but who's counting...oh yeah, I am! Oh well...I will catch up here sometime. Although I already have to take a bit of a break as I got our vacation photos and around 800 others developed and I really would like to get them all in some albums! Vacation pictures first, but here's hoping for some productive nights!

This card wasn't my first card back, but I wanted to post it first as it is a bit more important. Sympathy cards are always so hard to create...finding the right balance of pretty and simple. Unfortunately, I was in need of about 3 sympathy cards...my sister-in-law lost her Grandmother, my husband's coworker lost his pregnant wife, and a fellow crafter lost her 3 year old son. The last one was the hardest to hear because the thought of losing one of my kids is obviously one of the biggest fears as a parent. I will say upfront, that I do not know Sarah, but her story touched my heart and I desparately wanted to reach out to her and her family. I heard about the loss of her 3 year old son Henry via Kim (Crafts By Kim)...Kim is organizing a Blog Candy for a Cause to collect cards for Sarah and her family. I have a wee bit of experience in organizing a Blog Candy for a Cause :), so I knew I needed to send Sarah a card. So since I know you have been so kind to help me out when I was collecting cards for someone in need, I ask you to click on over to Kim's blog and find out how you can help too!

I won't bore you with details on this card...it was kept simple, but I do want to mention that it is based on Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #108. I have missed me my Mojo Monday...hoping to get back into doing them regularly, but have I mentioned the laundry list of things I need to do...and maybe actually some laundry as well!

Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps), Botanicals (retured SU!); Paper - Kraft, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla Craft; Accessories - Satin Ribbon (Offray), dimensionals

MIA

Missing in Action....I guess that is what you can say I have been, at least from the blogging and even crafting world! October was just one of those months and I think I am still trying to get things in order from it. It was filled with a HUGE trip for my husband and I, sickness (the kids and me...all right before our trip mind you), more sickness (my daughter after we got home, thank goodness), editing and printing all of those fantastic photos from our trip (over 300), and all of the Halloween activities! Whew! Needless to say, my crafting time and mojo pretty much disappeared and am I just starting to get the itch back. It is kind of being forced back as I have a need for about 5 - 6 cards right now for stuff this week!!

My husband and I went on a Mediterranean Cruise in celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary, but ended up falling on our 11 year anniversary. Last year our daughter was too small to leave, so the trip had to wait till this year. It was a fantastic trip! Started in Istanbul, Turkey and hit Ephesus (near Izmir, Turkey), some Greek islands (Santorini was our favorite), Alexandria, Egypt (we were there overnight so we were able to hit Cairo and see the pyramids), some more Greek islands, and finally ending in Athens. The places were saw were simply amazing and it was hard to wrap your mind around how old the stuff was...I mean the Pyramids are over 4000 years old....crazy! The kids got lots of Oma/Opa and Grandma/Grandpa time while we were gone, so they had lots of fun too! But man getting ready for that trip, and coming home from that trip was rough. I had a near heart attack when we thought one of our flights was cancelled and I was trying to figure out if some pressure I had in my ear was going to go away in time. And then adjusting back to the correct time (7 hours difference) took a good 4 days...I mean I was literally passing out right after putting the kids to bed! Anyway, getting back into the groove and all of the impending birthdays and Holidays are giving my mojo a jumpstart...although the bags and bags of leaves I raked today are making my body want to go to sleep again. So hopefully I will have more to share this month than last.

This card is one that I did for a Stamp Camp I held which unfortunately never got more than 2 people. I meant to post it in time for Halloween, but obviously that didn't happen! It is using the Bouncing Brayer technique...fun technique and I really love it with the moon! The tree was embossed over top of the brayered moonlit sky. Then a torn strip of Basic Black and a white grosgrain ribbon dyed with Barely Banana ink was add to the bottom. Nothing too complicated but I liked its simplicity. Plus I may just use it for a non Halloween card...this doesn't scream Halloween does it??

Well that is all for me...hoping to try some stamping tonight...we will see. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Branch Out (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Barely Banana, Basic Black, Whisper White; Ink - Barely Banana, Not Quite Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Versamark; Accessories - Black embossing powder, White 1/4" Grograin Ribbon, Brayer, Sponge, Post-it Notes, 1" Circle Punch, dimensionals, heat gun

Wild Birthday

Wow I feel like I have been missing off of the planet for the last week! When I went on my girl's weekend with my sisters, I swear I was coming down with some major allergies...then I came home and found my whole family with the same symptoms! Not so much allergies, but a nasty cold. My husband had to actually stay home on that Monday because I could barely function. Then to top it off I ended up with a sever ear infection on Friday...oh man does that hurt! So now I am on medication and hopefully will kick this darn thing (along with my daughter...son and husband are already better)...although the ear still feels a little funny...ugh! But this cold has taken me out of the loop for the last week, so I feel very behind on anything I planned to do...a lot of that has to do with getting ready for our 2 week Mediterranean Cruise in less than 2 weeks! So if you don't hear from me very often, I am either trying to get things ready or we are on our cruise! If I am organized enough, I may set up a couple of things to post while I am gone.

Anyway, enough of my woes...I made this card for a little boy's 5th birthday. I started off with the Verve Release Sketch Challenge and Color Challenge...here I thought I was going to be all sneaky and finish all five of the challenges in two or three cards and then I finally read that I was technically suppose to make a different card for each challenge...oh well! So the color challenge was sort of a tough one: Chocolate, Orange-Yellow, Vanilla, and Green-Gray...which I translated to Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla, and Sahara Sand. Not a color combo I would probably go for, but I like the splash of yellow to highlight parts. I of course had the sketch, but I flipped it and then even flipped some of the components as well...it was a starting point!

The lion was stamped three times so I could separate the body, mane, and face to give him some dimension. The greeting was stamped in Chocolate Chip and then highlight with a Summer Sun marker. The pinking (is that the right term for that jagged edge?) look came by punching a scallop circle and then rotating it slightly and punching it again. The patterned paper in the background is from To the Nines. I didn't want to have any ribbon since it was for a little boy, but I needed something...so I added a strip of beads. i just put a strip of sticky tape down, covered it with beads and then added some Crystal Effects over top to keep them in place. The main image and the greeting seemed to plain, so I added individual beads to those elements.

Well that is all for me! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Wild About You; Paper - Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, To the Nines DSP; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Summer Sun Marker; Accessories - Brown Beads (JoAnns bead aisle), Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Scallop Edge Punch, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Crystal Effects, Sticky Strip Tape, Mono Multi Liquid Glue, Scissors, Dimensionals

Baby Inspiration

So I am getting ready to head out on a girl's weekend with my sistahs! Yes, my actual sisters and sister-in-law. My two sisters and I decided to make a girl's weekend trip to visit our sister-in-law...my brother got sent to Qatar for a year, so she is on her own. Anyway, looking forward to heading out tomorrow...just wish my baby girl was doing better. She started running a fever on my birthday (oh let me tell you how great that day was...sick baby and grouchy son...oh yeah really great day...note sarcasm, although it ended on a lovely note once Daddy got home to help with the kids) and I hate leaving sick kids! Hoping she is doing better tomorrow!

So I was reading the Paper Crafts blog the other day and one of the new "Go To Gals" was posting and showed a simple, cute card that she CASEd from the most recent issue of Paper Crafts. So I decided to CASE it myself! I was in need of a Baby card for some friends that recently had their second, so I broke out some colored Chipboard letters that I had gotten in the $1 bins at Target awhile back and made myself a quick Baby card. The ribbon matches the colors of the Chipboard...it was sold in the same bins. The little onesie is from a retired set of Stampin' Up!: A Little Love. Not a whole lot to say for this one as it is extremely simple.

Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - A Little Love (retired); Paper - Gable Green, Rose Red, Bermuda Bay, Shimmer White; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay Marker, Gable Green Marker; Accessories - Colored Chipboard Letters (Target $1 Bin), Polka Dot Ribbon (Target $1 Bin), dimensionals

Sparkle on Little Fairy

So I can't believe that I forgot to mention is my last post that my sweet Adilane has decided walking is the "In" thing and that is all she wants to do now! My husband and son were outside racing to places and my daughter was sitting on the driveway watching them. All of the sudden, my husband came back and found her standing on the driveway (mind you there was nothing around her for her to pull up on). Then she just started walking! He yelled for me to come outside and I was even able to get it on video as well. It was just the cutest thing. That was only a little over a week ago now and she looks like she has been walking for months...must have been all of that practice!

So this is another card that I submitted for the March/April issue of Paper Crafts. This was under the category of Glitz Blitz and let me tell you this thing is blinged out! I love how sparkly it is, but having a slight vintage feel to it as well. I stamped the Penelope Fairy in Black Stazon on Watercolor Paper. She was colored with markers and a watercolor paintbrush. I created my own Stickles by mixing Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamond glitter and painted that onto the Fairy's wings and the ring thing she is holding. All of the Stickles I have didn't look right...they have too much a color to them, but the Dazzling Diamonds glitter was perfect!

The fairy was cut-out and mounted on a circle of Shimmer White with a circle of rhinestones. No I didn't stick each one on individually...the circle was already created...the rhinestones are on a clear sticker thing. The shimmer white circle was sponged with Certainly Celery ink as well as the Cameo Coral scallop circle underneath was sponged with Close to Cocoa ink. Lastly the Close to Cocoa base card was layered with Shimmer White (sponged with Close to Cocoa ink) and a strip of Blush Blossom embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing Folder. The bottom of the Shimmer White and Blush Blossom strip was scalloped with the Scallop Edge Punch and then I added rhinestones to each scallop. Like I said full of sparkle and bling!

Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Penelope Fairy (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Close to Cocoa, Shimmer White, Blush Blossom, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up!), Watercolor Paper; Ink - Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Black Stazon, Cameo Coral Marker, Certainly Celery Marker, Blush Blossom Marker, Close to Cocoa Marker (Stampin' Up!); Accessories - Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Circle Rhinestone sticker (Best Occasions), Rhinestone Stickers (Me and My Big Ideas), Scallop Edge Punch (Stampin' Up!), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), sponges, dimensionals, scissors, watercolor paintbrush

No Winter Card and Francesca Update

Sorry I have been a little MIA lately...I got a new computer, new cell phone, and my son started 4 yr preschool all in the same week! The new computer and cell phone took the most amount of time, but we are pretty much up to speed now. Still need to get Microsoft Office on the new computer though, so i haven't transferred all of my files yet. The most disappointing thing I found out though is that my camera will not stream pics to the computer via USB anymore...apparently it is not compatible with Windows Vista (or the upcoming Windows 7). Ugh! So now I have extra steps to download them onto my old computer and then transfer them to the new computer...talk about inconvenient! Anyway, I have a card to share and I also thought i would give you all an update on that sweet baby girl Francesca. A lot of you found my blog during my Blog Candy for a Cause II that I did in honor of Francesca, so since we were finally able to meet her this weekend, I thought it was high time for me to update all of you.

But first, since this is suppose to be a crafty blog, let's go over the card. This is one of the cards that I submitted to Paper Crafts, obviously not the one selected cuz I can't show you that one yet! But I really liked this card as well. This uses the Stampin' Up! set Branch Out (seriously love this set!). The tree was inked up in Certainly Celery ink and then "kissed" to the Sanded Background stamp that was inked up with Forest Foliage. Then I glued Flower Soft Sweet Pea to the tree to make it look like it was blooming (the Paper Crafts issue that I submitted for is a Spring issue). Then I took a sentiment from the Verve Stamps set Beautiful You and inked up portions of it at a time so it fell over the tree as you see. Lastly this was mounted to Forest Foliage layer that was distressed with some scissors. There is a lot of white space on this card...sort of unusual for me...but I like it.

So my family got to visit with Francesca and her Mommy (my very good friend, Maureen). Unfortunately Daddy had to work late, so we were not able to visit with him. As you can see Francesca is an adorable baby, full of smiles (unfortunately I could never capture them on camera) and wonderfully chubby. She is 9 months old now and is able to sit up for a little bit on her own, loves grabbing things and putting them in her mouth, is able to roll over both ways, and has the sweetest toothless grin around! Her smile just killed me because both of my kids got teeth very early, so it was so funny to see an older baby with no teeth. She is developing well and goes to therapy sessions to help her muscle tone which is one of the problems with Down Syndrome. So take a good look at that face and see the power of prayer!

Maureen told me that Children's Hospital of Detroit is planning on featuring Francesca's story along with two others on a special TV episode around Thanksgiving. So when she gets more details about the when and where, I will be sure to let you all know. Hopefully something gets posted on a website or something too so that those of you not in the Detroit area can see it as well. Stay tuned for that!

Thank you once again for all of your prayers for Francesca and thank you to those that have emailed me recently asking about her! And as always, thank you for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Branch Out, Sanded (Stampin' Up!), Beautiful You (Verve Stamps); Paper - Basic White (Papertrey Ink), Forest Foliage (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Certainly Celery, Forest Foliage, Forest Foliage Marker (Stampin' Up!); Accessories - Sweet Pea Flower Soft (Flower Soft), Mono Multi Liquid Glue, dimensionals, scissors

Final-Days-Before-School-Starts Activity & The SU! News

Well my summer is winding down now. My son starts 4 year preschool (only 3 mornings a week) next week. That means more of a routine and the fact that I probably have to start getting up a little bit earlier so I can get a shower in before the kids get up...ugh! My late night stamping habit that I have gotten into is not going to make that very easy! So we will see how that goes!

This week, we have stayed very busy trying to get the last bit of true summer activities in before school starts, but 2 weeks ago we were struggling with what to do. I found this idea to make marshmallow structures on a great blog called "The Idea Room". Amy (the blog owner) has lots of great projects and tidbits on her blog, so I highly recommend checking it out. Anyway, just a bag of mini marshmallows (mine were stale so I was going to be throwing them out anyway) and toothpicks and we had a fun activity for about an hour! Eli really got into making his "house" and seemed to really be enjoying himself! So of course I took some pictures to share with all of you! I think I might have even enjoyed it more than him...my engineering roots showed through, in particular my focus on structure design!

Now onto the final portion of my post. I know most (if not all) of crafty blog readers or SCS fans have seen the announcement from Stampin' Up! regarding its demonstrators...or at least have seen the rumors. I will admit that when I first started looking into it, I had a bad first reaction and I wasn't sure I would continue on...sort of out of principle. Well for those that may have no idea what I am referring to, in short, Stampin' Up! is asking all of its demonstrators to re-sign their Independent Demonstrator Agreement with the new changes. The new changes basically say that SU! demonstrators may no longer promote, market, or sell competitive manufacturers products on any form of electronic media (blog, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). This means no other stamp companies' Design Teams if you want to remain a demonstrator. Ok, if they would have just said that, then I would have said no problem right away...I am not on any Design Teams (although I tried a few times). Well SU! decided to go further and say that demonstrators cannot link to competitor's websites where people can buy their products. This is where it gets a little sticky for me. I am not the "Career" demonstrator type...I am the lowly "Hobby" demonstrator. This change makes sense and is welcomed by those Career demonstrators because talking about something other than SU! could hurt their business. But as a Hobby demonstrator, I am very aware of the "competitor's products" and like them, so I purchase them on occasion and try to win them or whatever. Then I use those products on cards and scrapbook pages and show them here...mind you these are all personal cards and such...not like I am going to show these at a workshop or class or anything that is related to my Stampin' Up! "business". When I show you a project, I like to be complete with the supplies I used and the manufacturers...this is the gray area of the new agreement. I am taking it though that if I don't directly link you to that manufacturer where you can buy the product when I create the project, then I am in the clear...I will still continue to give a complete supplies list. I still have slight issue with SU! regulating what I can link to on my own personal blog, Facebook, etc...especially since I don't really use my blog to advertise my SU! business (I do on occasion, but it is not my main focus), but I understand the intent. Well this was suppose to be the short story...think it was a little longer once I started typing...but, in short, I will remain a demonstrator right now unless other opportunities begin to arise for me elsewhere in the crafting industry (ahh, I can dream!) that goes against the new agreement. If you want to read more about all of this (and not all of the rumors and negative feedback!) check out Jan Tink's blog where she recently posted about it after Stampin' Up! clarified a lot of the changes that caused the most amount of uproar (and they actually changed the wording so it isn't quite as strict as was first introduced...the big one for me was that I could potentially design for a store or display, but I cannot promote it...I was thinking about looking into this for local scrapbook stores...not that I have, but ykwim!). Thanks Jan for helping to sort it all out!

Sorry no crafty post today...I will show something next time. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!