New Look

It is done! Sorry, nothing crafty to share today, but I wanted to alert those that get updates via a feed reader or email to jump to my actual blog site and have a look! I was having an issue with my blog...text was disappearing as you scrolled down...so I was working to fix that and then all of the sudden I got obsessed (my husband will attest to this, since I have been at the computer a lot the last few days) with changing the look of my blog. I am proud to say that I finished it...now I can get some sleep and stop thinking about it! Best part is, I did it all by myself! I am so proud! So let me know what you think of the new look...and if there are any problems!!

Bold Baby

Is it spring yet?! This is my least favorite time of year...when winter is starting to end, but it fakes you out too many times! Like this week, we have a nice little warm-up...just enough to make you think spring is finally on its way and of course makes you want it even more...and then it turns bitter cold again! Ugh! Oh well, the cold weather will help keep my husband and I focused on finishing our bathroom...we can see the end!!!

Back to stamping...I had it in my head that I needed some baby cards. Lots of friends having babies lately and I know I am way behind on sending out some cards. So i decided to use this week's Mojo Sketch Challenge #75 to get me started. Then I thought I could combine the current Color Challenge #207 on SCS...Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss. Bold colors for a baby card, but they could easily be for a baby boy, right?! I set out and made the card and somewhere in the middle of making it, I realized that everyone that has had a baby recently had a GIRL! So much for making a useful card! I will tuck it away...someone will have a boy sometime! Seriously I think it is kind of funny...when I had my son, there was a flood of boys being born and now it seems it is a flood of girls!

After I finished the card, I decided that I liked it, so I went ahead and made a few that would be more suitable for a baby girl. Now these I can actually use!!

I have been so proud of my daughter...she is changing so quickly right now. In the last week or so, she has learned to clap her hands (ohhh so cute!), wave bye (well sort of), and feed herself some finger food! The last one seems to be the biggest to me because my son literally did not start to finger feed himself until just before his 1st birthday...I was sure that I was going to have to feed him his birthday cake...but he figured it out just in time and he made a mess of himself like he should!

Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Bold Shapes (retired), baby stamp (title unknown - Inkadinkadoo); Paper - Bali Breeze DP, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Whisper White / Hostess Prints Pack DP, Lavender Lace, Apricot Appeal, Elegant Eggplant; Ink - Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss / Apricot Appeal, Lavender Lace; Accessories - Scallop Border Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, White Button Brads (Making Memories), Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon / Apricot Appeal 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Be Happy with Sparkly Butterflies

So a friend of mine (Hi Steph!) was kind of complaining that she doesn't stamp much anymore and she feels bad that she has all of these supplies and is not using them. She has 3 kids and is tired in the evenings after getting them all to bed, but I decided to try and encourage her to break out some of her supplies and get a little stamping therapy! So we scheduled to both work on the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #74 at our own homes and then show each other the cards the next day. And I am happy to report that we both made cards and they turned out fabulous. She said it felt good to do something like that...so maybe we will make it a weekly thing (what do you think, Steph?). It is always more fun stamping with others even if it is just knowing they are stamping at the same time!

So this is the result of that evening and my take on the Mojo Sketch Challenge. I decided to break out the retired Time Well Spent stamp set and the butterfly just called my name. I also chose to use the current Color Challenge on Splitcoast, CC #206: Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, More Mustard. Very springy colors, so it made me happy...so want spring to come! Anyway I wanted the butterflies to pop off the page, so I stamped them, colored them (using blender pen and ink pads), and cut them out. Then placed them over the images stamped on my card and bent up the wings. Love this!!





I recently found some fabric flowers on clearance at Jo-Anns, and it had the perfect color flowers to coordinate, so I broke those out to use as well. Some Diamond stickles, mustard organza ribbon, and a Swirly embossing folder later, I have a card I just love. Check out the detail shot to see the sparkle...I used shimmer white paper too...oh so pretty!!!

That is all for me! Need to get the house clean for a preschool playdate tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Time Well Spent (retired), So Many Sayings (retired); Paper - Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, More Mustard, Shimmer White; Ink - Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, More Mustard; Accessories - Fabric Flowers (Memory Boutique), Ice Rhinestone Brad (SU!), Mustard Organza Ribbon, Diamond Stickles, Classic Circle Nestabilities, D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Blender Pen

Upcoming Class and Awards

So did everyone have a wonderful Valentine's Day? Mine was perfect! My husband is the best! He and my kids put on a "show" for me...they even created a little program. How cute is that? In our house, it is not uncommon to have "performances" by my son...he loves to do balancing tricks or have some figurines do gymnastics for us. But having it all arranged was too cute for words. The performance included "Interpretive Dance of the Heart by Elijah", "My Juggly Valentine by Kevin" (my husband can juggle...one of his "tricks"), "A Love Song by Elijah" (ended up being Christmas songs for some reason!), and "Extreme Cuteness by Adilane" (oh and was she ever cute!). Anyway, I loved it!

I don't have much to show you today. I thought I would post a bit about an upcoming class I have for anyone in the Detroit area that would like to attend. I am having a Stamp-A-Stack on March 7 at my home. You will make 25 cards (5 each of 5 designs) for $30 (which includes lunch, small gift from me, a chance for a door prize, and of course all of the supplies). The picture here shows the 5 designs of cards. So if anyone per chance is interested out there, please email me!

The other thing I thought I would mention is that I have been awarded a couple of blog awards by some amazing bloggers! I really suck at posting these types of things, but I now have two to post, so I figure I best. The first one I got awhile back from Heather of Enchanted Stamping. It is the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you Heather for thinking of me...you are so sweet!

The rules are:

1. Link to the person who gave you the award

2. Nominate 10 more persons

3. Link the nominees and let them know about this award

4. Post the award on my blog
So here are my nominees. I don't have 10 people, but these are some of the people that I appreciate:

1) Jacki (The Card Castle) - I have recently found Jacki via Facebook. She has a wonderful blog and is always injecting the Lord into all she does and types! It is so very uplifting!

2) Cheryl (Engineered Expressions) - a fellow former engineer that does some amazing scrapbooking!

3) Alicia (Happy Stampin') - giving some more love to another fellow crafty engineer.

4) Nicole (Anderson Arts) - I have gotten to know her a little bit on Facebook (well at least I see her updates...is that more like stalking?) and she is the sweetest! She currently is on a mission to give something away on her blog every Wednesday...sometimes it is her beautiful handmade jewelry!

The other award I got from my Blog Candy for a Cause II winner, Deborah (Beadn and Stampn). Thank you Deborah for thinking of me for this award! You are the sweetest!

This "award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.” The rule of the award is to now pass it on to another 8 people who demonstrate this spirit.

Wow! Not sure I am really worthy of this award, but I thank Deborah for thinking I am! I do like the sharing and meeting people aspects of this whole blogging thing...really the reason I started it in the first place. But I will admit that I LOVE to get comments on my cards and scrapbook pages...is that self-aggrandizement? Anyway, these are the people that I would nominate for this award...most coming from my Blog Candy for a Cause II because I just couldn't believe how generous they were in helping me and supporting that whole endeavor:

1) Carolyn (My blog by Cammie)

2) Jane (Jane's Addiction)

3) Joanne (Stamped by Hand)

4) Debbie (Dolce Deb Designs)

5) Katie (Paper Makeup)

6) Monique (Heavenly Creations by Monique)

7) Anita (Cards and Coffee)

8) Alexandra (California Stampin')

9) Mikki (MikInks)

That is all for me for now! Need to work on picking out a paint color for our bathroom...it is almost done!!!!

Fishy Valentines

Well Happy Valentine's Day to all! I am enjoying a relaxing day with the family and looking forward to a heart-shaped pizza (hopefully I can make it look like a heart!) and dessert for dinner and a romantic evening with my husband (once the kids are in bed!). I hope that all of you have a great day as well!

Thought I would just pop in to show that last couple of projects I did with my son. They weren't anything huge, but I liked how they turned out. The first one is the Valentines that he took to preschool. I found the idea on the Family Fun website, so I take no claims that this is my original idea. I cut out all of the hearts (really considered getting the hearts Nestabilities, but I held back) and my son helped me glue them together, glue on the eyes, and then he signed the back of them. I printed the sentiments on the cardstock prior to cutting out the hearts: "You are oceans of fun!" and "Best fishes this Valentine's Day!". The cute font has hearts, stars, and flowers in it...found that at Simply the Best Fonts. Pretty simple and fun...plus they were Valentines that he "made" instead of the store bought ones!

The second project we did was a gift for Daddy and Grandparents. We had some large foam Heart shapes, so I cut out some cardstock in a slightly smaller heart, and then printed out small pics of the kids. Glued them all on the cardstock heart and then glued it to the foam heart. Added a magnet on the back for fridge display! For this one, Eli just helped me decide which picture went where and then placed the small heart foam stickers...he loves stickers!

If you need some more Valentine inspiration for those last minute Valentines, check out the Blog Carnival at Craft Critique! So much inspiration and ideas there, it is crazy. My Mickey Mouse Valentine card is in there, which I am proud to say that I made it in Julee's (Poetic Artistry and Mojo Monday Contest author) top 20 cards out of like 300 or something...didn't win, but I was glad that I made the top 20...maybe one of these days I will win that contest!

Anyway, have a great day and weekend. I need to work on samples for my upcoming Stamp-A-Stack (live in the Detroit area and want to come??...email me!) over the weekend...maybe tomorrow!

Warm Java Valentine

Only a couple more Valentine projects from me. In my next post I will show the remaining things that Eli and I made for a gift and for his classmates. But for now, this is a card for his teacher with a little java gift inside. I used Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #73 for the layout.

I knew I wanted to use the coffee mug and saying from Pun Fun since I was going to give her a small gift card. So I stamped the mug twice in Bravo Burgundy ink and pulled out my Stampin' Pastels (which I feel have been very neglected lately) to color the image. I loved how it turned out...so soft and warm...like a wonderful cup of coffee!

The pretty satin pink ribbon was some scraps that I had, so I am not sure where it is from...same with the button. The button was probably one of those extra buttons that sometimes come with shirts and pants. I tied the button to the ribbon with some hemp twine...a lovely addition if I do say so myself.

I did decorate the inside so that it could hold the gift card I got her. I just added the bottom panels and stuck 'em on with some sticky strip tape on 3 sides so that the gift card could be placed in there.

Anyway that is all for now...I am off to figure out our new AT&T U-verse service that just got installed. Excited for the DVR capabilities, but I hate that I have to learn all new channels!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Pun Fun; Paper - Kraft, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Bittersweet DP (Basic Grey); Ink - Bravo Burgundy; Accessories - Stampin' Pastels, Pink satin ribbon (source unknown), button (source unknown), hemp twine, dimensionals

Kids Valentines

This post has nothing to do with stamping, but it does have something to do with card-making...just card-making kid style! I wanted to have my son help make some Valentine's Day cards for grandparents and Daddy. I know it probably goes against all true card-maker vows or something to not make the cards myself, but I wanted him involved, but wanted them to be cute at the same time. So I did some searching for ideas and found an idea for Feet Hearts on the Family Fun website. They said to trace the feet, but after a couple of attempts with my son, we weren't having much luck...and just imagine trying to keep my 8 month old's foot still long enough! Not a chance! So I decided to slap some paint on the bottoms of their feet and made some footprints instead! Love them!!! I cut them out and printed the sayings. My son helped turn the Cuttlebug handle to cut out the sayings and the scallop squares. Then he helped me place the squares and the foam heart stickers (he loves to put stickers on things!) and I had him sign the backs of them (well he is still learning that one, so I might have to tell the recipient that what is on the back is suppose to be his name!).



Anyway, I loved how these turned out and wanted to share with you. I am going to have him make another kind for his preschool classmates...if those turn out I will post them as well. On a side note, my son really does have 5 toes on his right foot...although the footprint makes it look like he only has 4!! His second toe kind of curls and sits on his third toe, so it kind of blended with that one. Kind of funny though!



Thanks for visiting!

Pacific Garden Breezes Bird

Look at me! I managed to get a couple of cards done over the weekend! This is a very late birthday card for my brother-in-law...kind of forgot about his birthday. My Palm planner reminders don't work very well if I don't look at my calendar for awhile! Huh, imagine that!!



For this card I utilized two challenges: SCS Color Challenge #203 and SCS Sketch Challenge #213. The color combination of Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, and Garden Green was a nice combo for a male birthday. I used the little bird from Pun Fun (love him, but I really do need to find some good new masculine images) and paper pieced him to color him.



I kept the card very simple with just brads and some paper piercing (reverse style...where you pierce from the back side). It was kind of refreshing to keep the card so simple...although I kept thinking I should add something while I was making it. In the end, I feel it worked.



That is all for now. Have a great week! Thanks for visiting!



The Engineering Details

Stamps - Pun Fun; Paper - Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Garden Green, Basic Black, Whisper White; Ink - Basic Black, Garden Green Marker; Accessories - Corner Rounder, Black Brads, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, dimensionals

Mickey Mouse Valentine

When I was in high school, I LOVED Mickey Mouse...I just thought that he was just the cutest character. I wore very bold Mickey pants in one of my senior pictures. When I got married, Mickey and Minnie adorned the top of our wedding cake. In our first house, we had a black and white bathroom that was covered with Mickey Mouse. I still love Mickey, but not to the extent that I did then. But when I saw a set of Mickey Mouse stamps in the $1 aisle in JoAnn Fabrics, I just had to get it! And since my husband obviously was aware of my obsession with Mickey, I thought the image of Mickey and Minnie would make the perfect valentine image!

So incorporating my ultra cute Mickey image with the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #72, this card was born. I stamped the image with Black Stazon to make sure that it was a really deep black (you know how Basic Black doesn't always look black sometimes). I kept the coloring simple with just Ruby Red and So Saffron markers and then added some sparkle using Red and Yellow Gelly Roll glitter pens.

I used the adorable saying from Verve Stamps Beautiful You set. My husband and I have always said we have to die together so that we never have to live without each other, so the quote was PERFECT! I cut that out with the circle Nestabilities and layered it on a Ruby Red scallop circle. The whole thing was finished off with some rub-on hearts from the Love and Happiness Rub-on set from SAB last year.


It appears that in the card-making world, finishing off the inside of the card is now the in thing to do. So since my base card was black and I needed something on the inside anyway, I decided to give it a shot. Not sure I am in complete favor of this inside finishing stuff though. Looks great, yes, but it definitely adds some weight to the card which is not good for mailing. Plus, it takes me awhile to get the outside just the way I want it, so finishing the inside just means more time! Ahhh! Anyway, still not sure I will be doing this on all cards, but it was somewhat necessary for this one.

I have a couple other things to share this week, so stay tuned for more! Plus I plan to share a Francesca update in there too. Thanks for visiting!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps), Mickey Mouse (All Night Media); Paper - Basic Black, Ruby Red, Barely Banana, Whisper White; Ink - Black Stazon, Ruby Red Marker, So Saffron Marker; Accessories - Red Stars Gelly Roll Glitter Pen (Sakura), Yellow Stars Gelly Roll Glitter Pen (Sakura), Love and Happiness Rub-ons (retired), Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Heart Blocks Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Edge Scallop Punch, White 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, dimensionals, white gel pen

Spring Tree

I went to JoAnn's to get a new blade for my cutter and of course had to browse. I seriously cannot make quick trips there...I love to just look around too much! Anyway, I saw this patterned paper there and just had to buy a sheet. I love the colors and the sparkle!

So to use it, I chose Julee's (Poetic Artistry) Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #71 from last week (plan on doing the current one later this week). We have had a lot of snow this year, so the quote from Verve Stamps Beautiful You set jumped out at me...this winter will not last forever even if it seems it will. Then I chose to use the tree from Season of Friendship with the flower to show the tree changing from winter to spring.

The biggest challenge for me on this card was getting the quote in all of the colors...without markers! Oh if I had all of those colors in markers, it would have been a piece of cake, but without them it took a lot of post-it notes and trials. Luckily Verve stamps are clear, so I could fairly easily line everything up since I had to stamp it 3 times!

Well I am suppose to be ironing, so I should get back to that. Thanks for visiting!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Season of Friendship, Beautiful You (Verve Stamps); Paper - DP (DCVW Provo), Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Pink Passion,Whisper White; Ink - Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Pink Passion, Apricot Appeal; Accessories - Circle Nestabilities, Square and Scallop Square Nestabilities, Crystal Stickles, Apricot 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, 3/4" Circle Punch, dimensionals