wear your colors proudly

Congratulations, you made it to the last blog on the SNR Card Universe Blog Hop! If you came from Karolyn's blog, you're on the right track. If you didn't you may want to hop to SNR Card Universe, and start at the beginning. The last place to hop is back to SNR.


Since you made it all the way to the end I wanted to offer something different. I have lots of crafty interests and weird collections here that seem to make their way into my creative realm. So, for the 4th, I got out the button jars. Oh, yes I have more than one. I'm addicted to old buttons. I made a new button charm bracelet to share with you today. If you look closely, you'll see that there are a few non-buttons in the mix. I included an old bingo marker, a couple of silver charms, and a fragment. I had to drill a hole in the bingo marker and I finally got out my Fiskars hand drill for the job. Oh my goodness, why did I wait to use this handy little tool. It worked beautifully and cut so smoothly. I didn't even have to sand away any rough edges. The word charm says courage on one side and hope on the other. I salvaged it from a piece of jewelry that I took apart to use in new pieces. There's something lyrical about those words and how they came to be remade into this piece. I'll be wearing it to the fireworks display over the lake tonight.

Leave a comment here to be entered in a random drawing for a one month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review. I'd love to hear about your collections, especially if you have an affinity for buttons.

If you have more time, there's a bigger prize you can play for. All participating SNR staff members have part of a phrase posted on their blog today. Find each staffer’s blog along the hop, jot down their portion of the phrase, unscramble the wording, then send an email to games@scrapbooknewsandreview.com with the full phrase. My word is ASK. One hopper will win a full one year subscription to Scrapbook News and Review. You have until monday night to get your answer emailed. I hope you had fun on the hop and found lots of inspiration.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Enjoy the BBQ and fireworks wherever you are. The last place to hop is back to SNR.

a great vacation

Kyle on a float tube for the first time at Lake Crowley

Mom overlooking the river she wants to be able to raft


Curtis, Kyle, and Dad on father's day morning pre-fishing


Mom and I at Devil's Post Pile. I love rocks.


It was such a great vacation that I've been home for a week and haven't blogged yet. I guess since I'm not working this summer, you could say I'm still on vacation. We had a memorable trip up to Mammoth, CA. My parents joined us for the first time on this journey. We had a beautiful condo to stay in and it couldn't have been a better trip. If you're not familiar with the area we went to, it's on the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains. Gorgeous scenery, fresh air, evergreens, stunning sunsets, amazing mountains. You get the idea. The guys had an amazing time doing some 3 generation fishing including my guys' first time on float tubes and some first attempts at fly fishing. Paca had much to teach his grandson. They're like two peas in a pod when it comes to patience. Mom and I did some sightseeing since she'd never been around the area, just had driven through. It was so fun to take her out to see such majestical sights. Of course there was lots of laughter and fun times in the mix. Mom taught me how to knit. We watched some movies, played cards, and ate out most of the time. It was so nice to get away and just enjoy our time together. I hope you're making new family memories this summer.

on vacation

no internet, school's out, see you next week

Embossed Pearls

This is the first video that I edited myself. Curtis has been doing most of the hard work for me, but I figured it was about time I carry my own weight. Whew, it's more work, but kind of fun. I hope you enjoy this technique I figured out while playing around with some new mulberry paper I scored at a yard sale. Thanks for stopping by.

back to basics

Sometimes it all gets overwhelming and a girl has to get back to basics. Lately, I've been spending the majority of my creative time working on classes, challenges, and magazine work. I'm tired of trying to be innovative and creative all the time. Of course it's the end of the school year and teachers are tired, so I'm spending lots of time subbing in classrooms with kids who are tired of school. I'm tired of school. I'm tired of this grey June gloom weather. I'm just tired.

So, I decided to get back to basics today. Create something just because it's fun. I love black and white and polkadots and florals. I love glossy cardstock and a little bling. So, I pulled out this small Magenta stamp to make my own background by turning the stamp every which way and stamping repeatedly with StazOn ink. I stamped it one more time and punched out the focal piece. Both of the punches are StampinUp. Hero Arts makes the best little self adhesive gems and pearls, so I added in some of that. I love the elegant simplicity of this design and use it when I'm not sure how to lay out my card.

I'd love to hear about your go to products or designs or style. Is there something that always works well for you when you aren't sure what to make. I relied on most of mine for this one. I feel better. Thanks for stopping by today.

garden sprite

It's been far too long since I made a gothic arch. I picked up a ton of mulberry paper this week in my treasure hunting and used that for the base. I added some distress ink, perfect pearls, and stamping on the background. The little clear butterfly is cuttlebug embossed, alcohol inked, and stickled. That garden sprite in the middle was a silver pin I picked up in the same treasure hunting trip. I put a little copper mixative on her. I'd like to think somebody like her lives in the garden. Thanks for stopping by.

happy dance

I'm doing a happy dance! I just got the Summer issue of Take Ten in the mail. Three of my cards are in here. Yipppeeee! If you happen to have this magazine, I'm on pages 98, 114, and 123. This is one of my very favorite publications and I feel so honored to be a part of it.

winner

The winner of the 3 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review by random number generator is comment #60, Jana. Thank you all for the very kind comments you left here for me. I really appreciate that you took the time to leave them in such a huge blog hop. I'll send you an email Jana about how to access your gift subscription.

Sorry for having to put up the number verification thing. I'm not a fan of those, but after having an autobot post over 100 times the same comment, I had to. It took forever to delete those comments. Why do people bother doing that? I'll take it off in a week or so after the roar of the blog hop is over. I hope you all had a beautiful weekend.

a new class

I've been having inky fun creating a new class. These are samples for the Alcohol Ink Jewelry class I'm offering this summer. We will be making 3 different pendants from vintage game pieces. As with most of my classes, the samples are just the jumping off place. Each student will be able to choose their own colors and design elements. So far, I'm scheduled at Stampfully Yours in Escondido on July 11th and at Collective Journey in Redlands on August 27th. I limit my classes to 8-10 students maximum, so you'll get plenty of personal instruction as well as the supplies needed to make all three pieces.

Oh, and I just have to say that I am completely blown away by all of the kind comments on my CFH blog hop post below. The other people in the hop had beautiful stories and cards to share. It was very touching to go through and read all of it. I finished up 14 cards similar to the one below to include in my next batch of cards. You can still hop through the blogs if you haven't already. There's some beautiful inspiration to be had. I'll be drawing a winner for the 3 month subscription later on today.

Memorial Day

I made this to include in my next batch of cards heading out to Cards for Heroes. I've no idea who the end recipient will be, but I hope it brings a smile to someone's face. I love the idea of sharing my cards with someone who can really use them. They go overseas to soldiers who then send them home to loved ones. I never stamp the inside, since I imagine they have notes to write. I've not served in the military, but I greatly admire those who do. We have family members and friends who are serving overseas in various capacities. This is my small way of showing support for our troops.

I'm taking part in the Cards for Heroes Memorial Day Blog Hop. If you didn't get a chance to start at the beginning, go here to start at the top of the hop. There are some fantastic prizes being given away for those who follow the hop and leave comments as they roll through. If you a comment here, I'll enter you in my drawing for a 3 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review. I hope you'll consider sending CFH some cards or support with shipping costs. Next stop on the bloghop has the most gorgeous papers ever. Show Rusty Pickle some love. I'm guessing they may even be giving away something fabulous.

Supplies used: Cuttlebug embossing folder, DCWV cardstock, CTMH rhinestones, sandpaper, Versafine ink, SU sentiment, Sizzlets die cut, sandpaper, red and white ribbon.