The Engineering Details: Stamps - Itty Bitty Borders (Retired), Canvas, Quirky Alphabet Upper and Lower (Retired); Paper - Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Sahara Sand; Ink - Mellow Moss, Sahara Sand, Versamark, Ruby Red Marker; Accessories - Silver Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Moss Grosgrain ribbon, Sparkly ornaments and Stars by Jolee's, Gold brads, Silver and Gold Embossing powder; Supplies - Photo Corner Punch, Heat Gun, Glue Dots
Sunday, October 28, 2007
A Family Christmas
The Engineering Details: Stamps - Itty Bitty Borders (Retired), Canvas, Quirky Alphabet Upper and Lower (Retired); Paper - Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Sahara Sand; Ink - Mellow Moss, Sahara Sand, Versamark, Ruby Red Marker; Accessories - Silver Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Moss Grosgrain ribbon, Sparkly ornaments and Stars by Jolee's, Gold brads, Silver and Gold Embossing powder; Supplies - Photo Corner Punch, Heat Gun, Glue Dots
Monday, October 22, 2007
Dunn Family Update and Blog Candy Winner
Speaking of the Dunn Family, I would love to share some good news with all of you. Michael and Alissa were able to bring Isabella and Madeline home!! Both girls were eating well enough that they got permission to take them home. The latest tests on the girls showed that the tumors have decreased in size...so the medicine is doing its job...more importantly, the Lord is laying his healing hand on these two baby girls! They are scheduled for their next round of chemotherapy for this coming weekend, I believe...in which they will be readmitted to the hospital while it is administered. So, thank the Lord for the blessing of having the family in one house together, but continue to pray for these two baby girls as they continue to fight the cancer inside of them. Continue to read their inspiring and heartfelt journal entries at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dunntwins.
Now for my Blog Candy for a Cause Winner! As everyone commented about posting about my RAK request on their own blogs, I added their names to a list in Excel. Then as I received the cards in the mail, I added the creator's name to my list. With a total of 163 entries, Random.org selected #110: Gabriella Arriaza (her blog is Confessions of a Stamper)!!! Gabriella, I will be contacting you to ensure I have your correct snail mail and you will be getting the great Blog Candy (which grew even more thanks to more donations...need to get a picture before I send it out). I hope that you like all of the goodies!
Once again...Thank you, Thank you for supporting my RAK request! I could not be more grateful!
Halloween - A Little Different
Happy Halloween...a little early! I love this Holiday...not the scary, spooky side, but the cute, fun side! Somehow though I never managed to get my decorations out this year...bad Mommie! Things got away from me and now it just seems not worth the effort. Oh well, I still love everyone else's decorations!
This was the page I did at that weekend scrapbooking event. This was last year's Halloween where Eli dressed up at a Samurai. Hard to see in the pictures, but the hat even had a long braid coming out the back. So cute! My husband and I bought it in Chinatown in July thinking we got a large size. But by the time Halloween got closer, I had to have my Mom fix the hat and jacket so they would fit! Worked out and he looked adorable if I do say so myself.
Since Eli's costume had that cool red dragon embroidered on it, I knew I had to bring the Red color into my layout. So I went with a little different color layout for Halloween. I made the main image of Eli my focal point and layered that image...the More Mustard layer was distressed using some scissors. I used strips of the House image from Bitty Boos Too colored using blender pen and Real Red ink & More Mustard Marker to go under the focal image and tie the other pictures into it.
I really like how it turned out and I love the fact that the alternate colors turned out so nicely.
The Engineering Details: Stamp Sets - Bitty Boos Too; Ink - Real Red, Basic Black, More Mustard Marker; Paper - Real Red, More Mustard, Basic Black, Whisper White, DP from Over the Moon Press; Accessories - "Trick-or-Treat" sentiment bought at Simple Pleasures Scrapbook Store, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch; Supplies - Blender Pen, Sponge
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Reminder to get your RAK cards in the mail & a Scrapbook page
Now for another one of my scrapbook pages I did a couple of weekends ago. I really do like how this one turned out. I got the idea for the hand drawn spiders from somewhere in the blog world...sorry I didn't bookmark it, so I don't know where I saw the idea.
Did you notice the pumpkins on the left...they are in stages of getting carved! Probably a small detail that no one but me will notice. Oh well!
I did the scalloped edge below the pictures using the corner rounder with the guard removed.
The saying is coming from a book that my son had gotten (well Grandma got it) from the library..."This is not a Pumpkin". I thought it was cute. And yes, Eli was attempting to eat the raw pumpkin seeds in the bowl! Silly boy!
The Engineering Details: Stamps - Carved & Candlelit, Itty Bitty Boos, Quirky Alphabet Upper & Lower, Alphabet from Wal-Mart; Paper - Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black; Ink - Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Versamark, Pumpkin Pie Marker, Summer Sun Marker; Accessories - Only Orange Eyelets, Dimensionals, Halloween Ribbon from Jo-Ann's; Supplies - Corner Rounder, Crop-A-Dile, Black embossing powder, heat gun
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Picking the Perfect Pumpkin!
I really love how this page turned out! It definitely is one of my favorites that I have made. Actually I am pretty excited by all of the pages I did, but this one in particular (you will see the others a little later). They had a little layout contest near the end of the scrapbooking event...best double page layout and best single page layout. I won the Best Single Page layout with this one! If I would have used non-retired stamps, I probably would feel compelled to submit this to a magazine...can you tell I really like how this turned out!
Anyway, I do not have a lot of patterned paper (gasp! for all of you paper people out there), so I created my own with the pumpkin. Stamped it in Night of Navy and then colored in the pumpkins with Watercolor pencils and blender pens. Then I lightly sponged Creamy Caramel over the white spaces. I then attached it to the Old Olive and Certainly Celery layers and "sewed" the hemp twine along the edges. I only have a couple Alphabet sets...need to get a new one...and I am actually learning to like my handwriting.
The Engineering Details: Stamps - Little Layers II (retired), Quirky Alphabet upper and lowercase (retired); Paper - Creamy Caramel, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Whisper White, Night of Navy Pumpkin Pie; Ink - Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy, Old Olive Marker, Pumpkin Pie Marker; Accessories - Hemp Twine; Supplies - Large Tag Punch, Photo Corner Punch, 1/16" Circle Punch
A Mojo Sketch Challenge (#6) & A Happy Anniversary
I used Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge that she posts on her blog Poetic Artistry. Julee also is the designer behind the Verve Visual stamps, which by the way I love the two just released! I am trying to figure out if I can get one or both!!
Anyway, I used the couple in the Summer by the Sea...embossed them in Crystal Clear and then bleached the image. I love bleaching these sketch images! I also embossed the canvas background on the bottom part of the card. The You & Me saying comes from the hostess stamp set "So Many Sayings"...which I am becoming very tempted to unmount and cut it so all of the sayings are separate. I like the addition of the Hodgepodge Hardware and the melted organdy ribbon tied to the spiral clip. Ever done that before? It is real easy...just heat the tied ribbon and watch it curl! Nothing too crazy, but I like it.
The Engineering Details: Stamps - Summer by the Sea, Canvas, So Many Sayings; Paper - Night of Navy, Very Vanilla; Ink - Versamark, Night of Navy, Night of Navy Marker; Accessories - Navy Wide Organdy Ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware-Pewter, Crystal Clear Embossing Powder; Supplies - Ticket Corner Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1/16" Circle Punch, Sponge, Heat Gun
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
My Dunn Family RAK
I had a busy scrapbooking weekend...Friday night and all day Saturday...I will post the pages I made later. One actually won best single page layout...that is always exciting! Anyway, I was finally able to make my RAK card for the Dunn family. I decided to go with pink for the girls and a flower for each of them. I stamped the tops of the flowers in versamark and dusted Pretty in Pink pastels over top to make them somewhat soft. Then I stamped the outline image over top with Rose Red. I reverse masked the image (in other words, I masked around the image instead of the image itself) and sponged Creamy Caramel over the image. I doodled around the image with Old Olive Marker, layered it, and add some Diamond Stickles to the flowers. The rest of it is pretty self-explanatory.
Be sure to check out the updates to the Blog Candy for a Cause post. Some more "candy" was added and a couple others are offering candy at their blogs too! I put the updates in different colors so that they are easily spotted. Keep those RAK cards coming! Thank you to all that have already sent them. I plan to take some time this weekend to post any that are not already there to SCS. I just want everyone to see the beautiful cards that have been made in honor of two sweet baby girls! I think you will find the response amazing...I know that I have!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Holiday Glitz Promotion
Each Holiday Glitz card kit makes 15 handmade cards and includes:
Precut card stock and Designer Series paper (15)
Whisper White Envelopes (15)
Rhinestone brads (15)
Real Red zigzag ribbon (15)
Full-color instruction sheet (1)
There are two ways to take advantage of this fantastic kit while supplies last:
1) Purchase one of holiday stamp sets (below) and get the Holiday Glitz card kit for the special price of $24.95
2) Purchase the Holiday Glitz card kit for $28.95 with no additional purchase required.
Qualifying stamp sets include:
Snowfall - $23.95
The Snowflake Spot - $20.95
Big on Christmas - $18.95
Love & Joy* - $23.95
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Blog Candy for a Cause
Recently, my family’s lives have been touched by the plight of some friends of friends (but I am claiming them as our friends now too!). Michael and Alissa Dunn and their son Isaiah were blessed with beautiful twin baby girls on July 4, 2007. The pregnancy went fantastic and the twins were full term without any issues. Madeline Ora and Isabella Grace were wonderful additions to the family. Around the end of August, Michael and Alissa noticed that Maddie’s abdomen was a little swollen and firm, but she was acting completely normal. A few days later at the girl’s 2 month check-up, the pediatrician took one look at Maddie’s abdomen and sent them to the hospital for x-rays. A CAT scan shortly after revealed that Maddie had a large cancerous tumor called neuroblastoma Stage 4S. To give you an idea, this tumor has grown to about the size of a softball in her tiny body.
Once checked-in at Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, the doctors quickly decided to take a look at identical twin Bella. Unfortunately, Bella was also diagnosed with neuroblastoma. According to their doctors, this is only the 9th reported case of twins have neuroblastoma at the same time. Both girls have undergone one round of chemotherapy and are beginning their second. You can see pictures and read their story from their own words at their website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dunntwins.
So as I hold my son a littler tighter and we pray together for the Lord to lay his healing hand on the ouchies in Maddie’s and Bella’s bellies, I thought it might be nice to let them know that prayers are being said all over the country and maybe the world for these two little girls and their family. As I read the journal entries on their website, I am amazed by the strength and faith that Michael, Alissa, and their families have shown.
So I put together a special blog candy in which to get an entry, you need to mail me a RAK card for Maddie & Bella and/or for the family, that I will then place in a shoebox (hopefully I fill it!) and mail to them. So if you have the time, please make a card, sign it with your best wishes, post a picture of it to SCS (if you are able) with keyword bcfac07 so all can see it, and mail it to me. You can get an extra 2 entries if you advertise this Blog Candy for a Cause on your own blog…just make sure to leave me a comment so I can come visit the blog.
Update: In addition to the blog candy that I have put together, Anita from Praierie Papier Ponderer is offering to now include the Ronald McDonald House Charity stamp set from Stampin' Up! With the purchase of every one of these sets, Stampin' Up! donates $2 to the RMHC. This is actually quite fitting, since Michael and Alissa are staying at a Ronald McDonald House by the hospital! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Anita for being so generous!!!! And be sure to check out Anita's blog!!
Update: Once you have sent the card to me, stop by Inkerdoodles and Ink-A-Design and leave Lisa and Carolynn a comment telling them you sent it (and link to a picture of it if possible). They are going to draw for some extra blog candy in addition to what I am offering! Triple candy for a good deed...can't get much better than that!
Update: Well the generosity continues! Mary Elliott of Everyday Elliott is throwing in a set of blender pens (3) and an unopened Cranberry Crisp Classic Ink Pad to my blog candy! So now the candy just got a little sweeter. Thanks Mary!
I would like all cards to be in the mail to me by October 15! It doesn't have to actually be at my house by the 15th...sorry if I caused some confusion. So get Crafty!!
Thank you all for helping me pray and hopefully lift the spirits of the Dunn Family!
Note: If you don’t normally take pictures of your cards or don’t post them to SCS, let me know and I will take a picture of the card when I receive it and post it to SCS.
Mail cards to:
Andrea Vernagus
Blog Candy for a Cause
2797 Warwick Dr.
Bloomfield, MI 48304
Cards posted on SCS
Monday, October 1, 2007
Customer Blog Candy Winner!!
I have to apologize to my customers on the delay of this! I meant to do this a few weeks ago, but preparations for the Stamp Camp got in the way.
Anyway, I offered up to my customers through my email newsletter an incentive to come and check out my blog. If they left me a comment, they got an entry into my Customer Blog Candy and if they subscribed to my blog, they got a 2nd entry!
So the winner is Janine B.!!! The winner was picked by random.org after I assigned all of the entries a number. Janine, I will be sending you what you see in the picture: 6x6 sheets of Wintergreen Designer Series Paper, a variety of ribbon pieces, sampling of silver wire, and Only Orange & Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers. I hope you like it and get creative with it!
Thanks to all for commenting on my blog and subscribing...it is good to know that I may not be talking just to myself!!
By the way, I am about to announce a Blog Candy opportunity for all! Just figuring the last details out, so I hope everyone comes back to participate!!