A walk in the woods

One really fun thing I did on my vacation was visit Silver Falls State Park. I met one of my best friends and her two kids, J and A (I am their honorary auntie, and I love it!). They travelled about two hours to come see me while I was "home." I've been going to Silver Falls since I was a kid -- it was always a great place for picnics and family reunions. But this was my first visit in several years, and my first major hike around the park. We made a six-mile loop and saw 8 waterfalls, I think. It was a gorgeous spring day, and all the wildflowers were blooming! The above falls were my favorite - I love the way the trees framed the photo shot.

This is me with A. Her middle name is Michelle, after me. She got a little tired of the hiking about 4 miles in, but she perservered, partly because she was really excited about the picnic afterward. She and her brother ate sandwiches and cookies while their mom and I drank wine and ate cheese, crackers, and fruit! Yummy!

This is me with J. He is almost 11 and races motocross for fun. Next fall, he's playing football! I can't believe how fast he's grown up; I remember the day he was born! He did really well on the hike, as long as he was in the front!

This is South Falls. It is the most famous of the falls because it is closest to most of the picnic areas and easiest to reach. I think the drop is about 120 feet. We actually started our hike here -- including the path behind the falls' midpoint. It is a really cool vantage point, and the icy spray feels good when the sun is out. I'm not in the best of shape, but I managed to hold my own on the hike and it was worth it. Next time, maybe we'll make the extra three miles and see all 10 waterfalls.

Hi honey, I'm home!

I am finally back from my 10-day vacation to the Pacific Northwest! I got back yesterday, but spent much of the afternoon and evening going through mail and email, unpacking and petting my very lonely cat! She doesn't like the strangers I have coming by to check on her, so she definitely is glad to see me when I get home! Along with my cat, I was glad to see a package from Making Memories had arrived for me. I entered a contest on their blog and was chosen as one of the winners! The storage jars above were what they sent to me. They are hard plastic and the big ones are slightly shorter and flatter than canning jars. The small ones are comparable to Prima or jam jars. I think the big ones will get ribbon scraps, but I'm not sure yet while I'll put in the small ones. I can't wait to start filling them.

Now, for some craft-related vacation news! See the stuff I managed to pick up on my vacation? I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to check on the local stamp and craft stores when I'm visiting other places. I was so busy this trip, I had very little time to shop, but I still managed! And when I head home to Oregon, one of the places I HAVE to go is Craft Warehouse. It's a great store and they have a HUGE selection of stamp and scrap supplies. While I was there, they happened to be having a sidewalk sale! Woohoo! I got pink Stazon for $5! I also picked up some Heidi Grace clear buttons for ribbon; some Tres Jolie buttons on sale 25 percent off; some cute little Primas in a magnetic tin; a Bazzill accordion book for $1; some Mrs. Grossmans bling; a couple of transparency flourishes from the Tres Jolie collection; and an A muse sentiment half off. Then I stopped at Michaels with my mom just briefly because she was out of Mono adhesive, and found two spools of gingham ribbon (green and blue) for $1 each. My sister and I managed a quick trip to Stampin Cat Studios, a rubber stamp store in my hometown, where I snagged the Maya Road tins, the Asian coins, and that really, really cool pink and brown ribbon with the interesting weave. And lastly, my sister and I stopped at a floral supply house and picked up two 25-yard rolls of stitched ribbon for $5.95 each and split them. Isn't that carribean blue with the green stitching awesome?

Lastly, while I was at Craft Warehouse, they were doing this cute make and take to showcase the new Basic Grey precision file kit - which is my next must-have purchase, I think! That thing is awesome! The chipboard flower is from Maya Road, I think, and the jumbo brad in the middle is from Queen and Co. I'm not sure who made the paper. It was a super fun project and I'm glad I had good timing! I'll have more vacation news and photos the rest of the week. For now I'm off to catch up on blog reading!

Mini matchbooks

I'm getting some quality baby fix while on my vacation -- my college roommate, who remains one of my best friends, had a baby boy in January, and I was able to time my trip so I could meet him and attend his baptism while I'm in the area. And my cousin, about 18 months younger than me and one of my best friends when I was a child (we were like peas and carrots, as the saying goes), had identical twin girls in February. I'm making a special trip to see them -- they live about 5 hours from where I'll be spending the rest of my vacation, but it's closer to there than my house in California.

Anyway, I made gifts for the babies and I wanted to make some gift cards to go with them. They got congratulatory cards in the mail, so these could just be gift enclosures. Then I got the idea to make mini matchbook cards using scraps of paper I have sitting in my stash. The girls' cards are pretty in pink and certainly celery cardstock, scraps of Fancy Pants Key Lime Pie paper covered by polka dot vellum, and the baby stamp from Riveting. The boy card is bashful blue cardstock, some unknown patterned paper covered by plain vellum, and the same baby stamp, and brads on one side to hold the vellum. The ribbon is also scraps -- the polka dots are dots and dashes from Michael's and the pink stitched is May Arts from a LSS. The size is about 3.5 inches square when completed; I think I started with paper 3.5 by 7.5, then score at 3.5 and 7 inches to get the matchbook fold.

S is for Simon

One of the things I'll get to do on my vacation is attend the baptism of Simon, the four-month-old son of my college roommate, who remains one of my best friends. I bought Simon a cute surfing t-shirt from Carter's (he's gotta have a Cali shirt from Aunt Michelle :) ). But I also made him a couple of things, including this altered wooden letter S. It is my first altered letter. I bought the S from Michael's, painted it with manila Making Memories paint and covered it with some really cool Daisy Ds pattered paper. I modpodged over the paper, then added the Cosmo Cricket rub-ons before sealing the whole thing with acrylic sealer. I then added the buttons (tied with hemp twine) and the ribbons and twill -- the twill is from a LSS and reads "a boy is a joy." I also added the metal tag with jump rings. I hope it's not too girly!

Sparkle and shine

My second cousin is having a Hollywood themed sweet 16 party while I'm home visiting family on vacation. Most of my extended family on my mother's side all live in the same town or within 30-45 minutes of there, and they regularly get together. In fact, every month they all meet (whoever is available) for pizza, or in the summertime, barbecues. It has really kept our family close, especially my cousins and now, their kids. I don't get to see them very often, since I live 1,000 miles away, but when I do, it's like I was never gone. So I have watched Jessica, the soon-to-be 16-year-old, grow up before my eyes! Of course, the downside of not seeing her often is that I really don't know her likes and dislikes. But I had to make her a card for the party, so I'm hoping it will fit the Hollywood glamour theme. It is so sparkly in real life. The card base is basic black. The tempting turquoise layer is stamped with print pattern in versamark, then embossed with black ice embossing powder, which is mostly black with lots of silver and a little iridescent sparkle in it, too. I bought it a local rubber stamping show last year. The sentiment is on shimmery white, layered on basic black. I stamped the happy in black and the birthday in turquoise. I stamped another happy in black on turquoise and punched it out with my SU concave square punch and mounted it on a dimensional. The velvet ribbon is one of those wooden spools from Michael's, and the rhinestone ribbon slide is from Target - it either came from the $1 spot or the clearance section (I found a treasure trove of stuff last summer at the Target in Eureka, CA, and this was one of the item from that.)

Good news, bad news ...

I got some great news today! I entered a little drawing on the Making Memories blog and I won!!! They were asking people to comment about their challenges and struggles with organization -- something many of us struggle with! Short of owning my own home (so I could build custom wall units) or even having a dedicated craft room, my biggest challenge is needing to see things so I remember to use them. I have a spot to put everything, but if it's not right in front of me, I forget about it. That means I have stuff I always forget to use, and I have a very crowded work surface because my key tools that I reach for over and over again are all sitting on top of the desk. I have prima bottles, my cropadile, scissors, several kinds of adhesive, black staz-on, my stamp cleaner and pad, my very large cutter, my camera, my idea book, and more all on top of the very small desk! Anyway, I shared this problem with the MM folks and they pulled my name along with a few others and are sending me some new organizational jars. I will be sure to post a picture when they arrive. Now to figure out what to put in them ...
The bad news (for you, not so much for me, LOL) is that I am heading out on a 10-day vacation starting early Friday morning and won't be back until Memorial Day. I've saved a couple of posts to put up if I have time and internet access, but otherwise, it might be a little quiet around here for a few days. But don't give up on me - I will be back with blog candy (or kitty treats, I think I'll call it) after the holiday weekend!

Simple scraps

Once I finally cut into this piece of Fancy Pants key lime pie paper, I decided I needed to use every last bit of it! Well, I am almost done, I think I have just one more piece left. About the same time I decided to use up the entire sheet before moving on to something else, Emily Giovanni posted a challenge to once a week, pull out an older sheet of patterned paper you've been hoarding, and use it all up! Thanks for the encouragement, Emily!
The card is very simple: I attached torn scraps -- alternating the two sides of the double-sided paper -- with silver brads from the Target $1 spot. They are not my favorite brads, but hey, they were $1! The patterned paper is layered on bashful blue stamped with linen BG in bashful blue. That is layered on a pretty in pink card base. The sentiment is a from a $1 Michael's clear set and I stamped it in Stazon Blazing Red, which really is closer to pink passion.
The card is going to an internet friend who is having a tough time right now. I hope it will brighten her day!

Rubber Stamping Fun!

They definitely got the name right! Rubber Stamping Fun is a stamp company; they recently advertised on SCS and the ad caught my eye (and lots of others') because it said "Free Stamps"!!! Now, who could turn down free stamps? So I followed the link, signed up for the program, and have been selected as one of about 145 reviewers for RSF. Some of us on SCS have coined ourselves the "Rubber Testers." Through the program, the reviewers will periodically receive free stamp sets in the mail to try out and offer opinions on through their blogs or galleries. It's an interesting marketing strategy, and one I am happy to take part in! The company has some really cool stamps already, and they are getting ready to unveil a bunch of new stuff. I've seen a preview -- they're letting us pick our first review set -- and there are some fun stamp sets. I can't wait to get mine. But I can tell you, I won't let the free goodies sway me; you'll get honest feedback from me about the quality of stamps and designs. And if you want to check out other rubber testers' thoughts on the stamps, this blogger is keeping a list of links to all the rubber testers' blogs. I will likely add one too, eventually!

I love a challenge

Beate is celebrating 200,000 hits on her blog - wow!!!! As part of the celebration, she's giving away some awesome blog candy for anyone who posts a card using her challenge sketch found here. Of course, I love free stuff, and I couldn't resist the challenge, so this is the card I came up with. It's for a friend who recently had a baby boy. The stamp set is Everyday Celebrations, a mini catalog set a while back where you could pick which stamps you wanted in it. I always need baby card! And I love the sweetness of the lamb. I broke up the sentiment, half of it is on the front of the card, and the other half is on the inside. Card base is bashful blue, with a layer of embossed DCWV paper I picked up at Joann's over the top and attached with celery brads from Making Memories. I also used so saffron and certainly celery paper, and shimmery white for the image. The saffron layer has the dots stamp from Delight in Life stamped in white craft, with a little dp white craft around the edges. It's hard to see in the photo. I stamped the image and sentiment in black Stazon, then watercolored with an aquapainter and ink from the pad lids of my celery, bashful blue and saffron ink. I'm a new watercolorerer, but I like how this turned out. I also ran the watercolor brush over the sentiment for a little dimension. The buttons are tied with some frayed fibers and attached with glue dots. Thanks for the fun challenge, Beate!

When you fall in love

Sometimes there are stamp sets that you just fall in love with. I think Artfully Asian is one of them for me. I knew as soon as I saw it in the new catalog last July that I would need to own it. But limited stamp budgets, and other priorities -- Christmas card supplies and mini catalog sets -- meant I didn't actually order this set until Sellabration this year. I've had it since early March, and I keep turning to it over and over again. It makes such lovely cards, I think, and they are perfect for so many occasions! I tend to like sets that are simple and elegant, and this one fits that bill perfectly.

Here's the card recipe: Artfully Asian stamp set, Fancy Pants Key Lime Pie designer paper, green galore, pink passion and pretty in pink ink and cardstock, shimmery white cardstock, staz on black ink, sheer white organdy ribbon, slit punch, scraps of green grosgrain and pink satin ribbon, blender pens for coloring.

Now I'd love to hear about the stamps or stamp sets that you've fallen in love with lately!

The last of Stamp Mania

So I'm finally uploading the last of the photos of things from SoCal StampMania. Since it was my first-ever stamp event, I wasn't quite brave enough to do the optional swap - 30 cards seemed like way too many! But I did make a few extras of my shoebox swap project to trade with my carpool friends and with others I met at the event. These are the cards and projects I received in trade. There are some really fabulous stampers in SoCal! I think next year I may attempt to actually make some swap cards for SCSM and see what else I might be able to trade for.
This is my favorite of all the swaps. Kim, or MamaKim on SCS, made these for her shoebox swap. Since we carpooled together, we swapped and I got one of these! Aren't they adorable? And what a clever idea. They were one of the most popular projects at the swap, and it's no wonder. We met up at a Rite Aid parking lot and swapped before we headed out. I left my swaps in the trunk of my car so I wouldn't have to worry about hauling them around or worrying about them all day. But it was so warm that day, the bath salts sort of melted together! You can't really tell in the photo, but they are all stuck to the back side of the bottle!

Carnival winner!

I can't believe it! The lovely ladies at Craft Critique included my altered Starbucks frappuccino pack in their latest carnival. This carnival for altered art included projects by lots of wonderful stampers and I am thrilled to be chosen for this honor. If you haven't checked out Craft Critique, please do - it has a lot of wonderful information about papercrafting products, and a whole host of ideas and links to cool projects! I love altering things, and hope to have some more projects completed soon. I'm working on a wooden letter "S" for a baptism gift for a friend's baby, which I should have done in a few days. In the meantime, I also have lots of altered stuff in my SCS gallery if you want to peruse there.

Look what I made!

These are the projects I made at SoCal StampMania last weekend. I had never been to a shoebox swap before, so I really didn't know what to expect. I can tell you, all the projects were fun to make, and nearly every one of them provided an idea or inspiration for future projects, which is one of the things that makes stamping with other people so cool! The group includes seven cards, a small genie bag, a tealight holder, a card folder to hold cards, and my favorite project, a magnetic coaster clipboard.
Isn't this the cutest thing you have ever seen? The project was designed by debbiejjackson on SCS. She used the petals and paisleys designer paper and a the polka dots and paisley stamp set from SU's spring mini catalog. (I hope I have those names right; I'm not a demonstrator and don't always remember them correctly!) It was a pretty simple project to stamp and assemble, but I love the finished product. It is hanging on my fridge right now, and I NEVER put stuff on my fridge! Thanks, Debbie, for the fun project!

The other thing we made was a make and take designed by Emily (Waterpixie on SCS). She designed a project around the event roster - inside this spiral book is a page for each person's contact information for all the attendees so we can send RAKs or keep in touch. We decorated chipboard coasters using the crayon resist technique, then assembled them with the Bind-it-all. I'm not a very good binder - the cut on my cover is a little crooked, and I needed two coils because I bent the first one wrong, LOL - but this is a fun little tool! You could make a ll kinds of things with it at home. I may have to add it to my (very long) crafting wish list!

I won! I won!

The organizers of SoCal StampMania did a very cool thing - they had everyone who attended bring a stamped item for the door prize drawing. When you dropped off your prize, you received an entry into the drawing, so that everyone who came got to go home with a cool handmade prize. I won this darling tote and matching cards and envelopes made by Beth (Showmestamper on SCS). Thanks Beth, I love it. The blue and black are great together.

The SCSM coordinators also went to a whole bunch of sponsors and solicited raffle prizes for the event. I think they had about 40 in all, and I won one! This daisy chain chipboard book from Maya Road is awesome. It's about 6 inches across, plenty big to add photos or other embellishments. I think this prize was one of the many donated to the event by the fabulous owners of Eclectic Paperie, a great online store run by Joy and Daisy. Joy was one of the coordinators of SCSM and she hooked us up! Thanks everyone for the cool prizes.