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Archive for January, 2010

The “could-not-be-any-faster” Birthday Card

Posted in Cards, Simple Goodness on January 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

When you're a stamper there's always that bit of (self-imposed) pressure to produce hand made birthday cards. I always have good intentions to build up a stash, but last week when I needed one, there was none to be found. "Everyday Button Bits" to the rescue!

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This set makes it so simple to create quick one layer cards that look really sweet and special because of those cute buttons. I was able to make this card in 5 minutes! That is perfect when that is all the time you have. The one year old recipient never told me what she thought of it…but I'm sure she loved it. =)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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Delicious Dish

Posted in Cooking on January 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »

I didn't get much crafting done this weekend except for a little bit of coloring. I hope to share that with you later this week. However, I did get to make dinner – every night as it were.  Thankfully, that happens to be one of my other hobbies. Cooking or baking is equally inspiring to me and rarely feel like a hardship. The only challenge as I see it is to know what to make every day, but once I've decided, I'm off and running.

This week I made a delicious Cobb Salad. It's so very simple to assemble and the presentation makes this weeknight meal seem even more special. Just chop up a bit of lettuce, rotisserie chicken, grape tomatoes, avocado, feta cheese and bacon and you're done.

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Doesn't it look yummy?! But where's the bacon, you ask. Well, I thought I burned it a little (I obviously don't cook bacon very often) so I left them on the side. Turns out it was tasty anyway.

So, if you can't think of what to make this week, try it out.

I'm looking forward to a week of updates from CHA. I wish I could have gone. Perhaps another time. For now I'll live vicariously through those bloggers who did go.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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Bellarific Monstah Bash

Posted in Cards, Prisma Coloring, StampingBella on January 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »

My first Bellarific Friday Entry!! Last week I received my first order from Stamping Bella. Great stamps for coloring and great stamps for little boy cards. Being that I now have two little boys I figured it was time to expand on this category of stamps

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I colored these little guys with my prisma color pencils and blended with OMS. More practice for me. So much fun. My inspiration for how to color these came from Paulabella. I figured since I can't attend her coloring classes I could at least look at her amazing work and try to learn from that. Below you can see the whole image after I was done coloring. But the challenge was to use a "twinchie", a two inch square on your card so I had to cut one monstah out. Perhaps I can figure out away to use that little dude on a card too.

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A bit of glossy accent made the balloon more interesting. The sentiment is from American Art Stamps and is one of my most favorite birthday greetings. I think you should enjoy your birthday immensely! Party all week! Eat lots of cake and get a little crazy. 

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This card will go in my stash. There are many birthdays coming up.

Thank you for stopping by,

Sara

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Can too Many Craft Supplies Hamper Creativity?

Posted in Cards, Prisma Coloring, PTI on January 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Surely not!! I know I am always inspired by new products. A new set of stamps does  wonders for my creativity – and my mood! Stamps make me happy, its as simple as that. So if there is such a thing as having too many supplies, you won't hear it from me. I believe the same thing is true for purses and shoes…

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But when craft time is scarce, looking at my desk and sifting through my stamp drawers can be overwhelming. I want to do something now, but what?? I simply can't think because my eyes is taking in so many fun things I could do, should do, want to do. That's when I decided to move just a few things into our living room. That way, I could work on a little something in between loads of laundry, diaper changes and baby feedings. And let me tell you – it works!

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In stages, I stamped, colored, blended, cut, glued, glittered and made this card.  And I had fun doing it. This is not how I normally work. I like to go from start to finish in one sitting, so I was surprised to find so much enjoyment doing a little at a time.

How about you? Are you short on time? Overwhelmed because you can't use ALL the fun things in your stash at the moment? Try what I did. Pick a few things, play when you can and enjoy the creative process in stages.

Ok, gotta get back to dinner. =)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

Card Details:  {Stamps}: PTI In Bloom, Everyday Button Bits, {Ink}: SU! Basic Black {Paper}: PTI Stamper's Select White {Other}: Prisma Color Pencils, OMS, Glitter, Dimensionals.

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Simple Home Decor in Less than One Hour

Posted in Home Decor, Project, Simple Goodness on January 17, 2010 | 4 Comments »

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Back in February 2009 I made this butterfly collage inspired by Ali Edwards to grace my wall. I had so much fun making it that I wanted to make another one using different paper punches. I picked up two Hydrangea Martha Stewart punches at Michaels along with a piece of patterned paper. In order to make the two match I decided to use the same paper as last time. On my way home I picked up a small twig found in the parking lot. Here's a picture of all the supplies needed.

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It was so simple:

  1. Cut a piece of white card stock to fit your frame. Mine needed to be 8 1/2" x 10". 
  2. Punch out a good selection of flowers in different sizes.
  3. Attach the twig to the cardstock using dimensionals. I think I only attached it in two places as I figured that the overlapping flowers would hold it in place. It turns out I was right about that assumption.
  4. Attach the flowers around the twig using dimensionals.
  5. Insert completed collage into the shadow frame of your choice.

Time to complete this project? Less than one hour!! How is that for a satisfying craft session?

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I really enjoy having these hand made decorations on my walls. I'll leave you with this close up of the flowers.

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Thank you for stopping by,

Sara

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All Snowed In

Posted in Baking, Christmas, Cooking on January 7, 2010 | 2 Comments »

We don't get a lot of snow in Portland,but every now and then a wee bit falls. The one day of snow we had last year during the holidays fell on December 29. My mother-in-law was visiting and helping me make some simple cookies I needed for a gift. She ended up staying the night and we had a really fun time visiting.

If you're in need of a quick and thoughtful gift, this recipe for Chocolate thumbprints from Martha Stewart was super simple to make – just a few ingredients. I ended up using chocolate chips instead of melted chocolate for the filling for half of my batch. The other half got a dollop of Strawberry-Kiwi jam.

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We then stacked them in little clear baggies and attached a simple tag stamped "Holiday Treats" from PTI. I am happy to report the gifts were well received.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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Back once again

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Simple Goodness on January 4, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Happy New Year!

Been a while since I posted anything on my little blog. Here's one of the reasons I've been gone…

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 And here's the other reason why I've been a bit busy…

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Sweet little reasons. =) They have kept me pretty busy and I must confess that some days are rather tough. Getting used to having two little boys has been a transition. Most of the time I feel too tired to work on my craft projects. I am impressed by all the mothers out there with even more kids!!

Even so, I did manage to make a small little holiday project. Using PTI's coffee bags I packed a selection of cookies as a gift for my family. I then brought out the "Holiday Button Bits" stamp set and made a few cards…the only Christmas cards I made this year. =) The little gingerbread man made a perfect tag for the bag. The ribbon with little hearts is from my stash. I suppose it might seem like a Valentine's kind of ribbon but in Sweden red and hearts is very much a Christmasy thing.

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Here's a couple of closeups on the cards. So much fun to use those little buttons as part of the image.

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I hope to be back shortly with another update of what went on during the holidays. After that, it's onto new adventures for 2010.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

The Details:

{Stamps}: PTI Holiday Button Bits {Paper}: PTI White, Pure Poppy, Spring Moss {Ink}: PTI Dark Chocolate, Versamagic Gingerbread {Other}: Corner rounder, PTI Buttons

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