Stamps, Paper, Scissors

Two scrapbook pages

From Tink & Bell's Digital Scrapbooking Club!

The first page was from one of our sketches. We've had great fun watching our members creating their own layouts with our Enhanced Sketches. This was one of Wendy's sketches (we take turns!). Lookie:

Look at those lil' cuties! (and the page is STINKIN' CUTE too! (YILM!)) This uses the new Summer Smooches Digital kit.

This next one was a page to show a project using a custom paper I created in MDS. You too could learn how to create your own paper in MDS if you joined Tink & Bell's Digital Scrapbooking Club! Lookie:

GOJUS (YILM!) The patterned paper is the one I created myself in MDS. I love creating my own paper because I control the colors and the style and once I create it, I can use it again and again.

I hope you are all enjoying the Easter holiday. I just went out and did my Easter bunny shopping and bought the ham and other fixings for tomorrow's dinner. I plan on spending the rest of my weekend stamping and scrapping! Ta!

Parisian Chic

It's only been 3 days and I miss Everyday Enchantment!

Why did it have to go, WHY?!?!?

To sooth my troubled soul (and maybe to make you feel a little lost without EE as well), I guess I should post a project I made with it. Lookie:

Ingredients: Artistic Etchings, Occasions Alphabet; Paper - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade; Ink - Soft Suede, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait; Other - Ticket Corner Punch, Blossom Bouquet triple layer punch, Poppy Parade polystitched ribbon, white gel pen, Color Spritzer tool, Stampin' Write markers, dimensionals, sponge wedges, Everyday Enchantment brad.

Ah, oui! C'est tres jolie! (OJMA ou Oui, je m'adore!) Oh...sorry...en Anglais, I mean, in English...Oh yes, it's VERY PRETTY! (YILM!)

Now are you missing this paper as much as I am?

There, there...there will be new paper coming out on June 1st! Hopefully, there will be something equally GOJUS in the new catalog!

Well, it's off to bed. I spent the day working and on the 8th level of hell, also known as the website of the office of retirement services for the state of Michigan. After being assured by the website that applying for retirement online was "easy" and had just five "quick" steps, I can tell you the truth is that it is far from easy or quick. Sigh...Ta!

More Summer Smooches

Like a lot of demonstrators who booked a workshop during a certain time period, I got the set Gnome Sweet Gnome for free. I think it's STINKIN' CUTE, but I hadn't used it until the Summer Smooches paper made an appearance on my front porch. And then...well, LOOKIE:

Ingredients: Stamps - Gnome Sweet Gnome, Petite Pairs; Paper - Summer Smooches DSP, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Whisper Whtie; Ink - Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Pool Party; Other - 1" circle punch, 3/16" corner rounding punch, Eyelet Border punch, Neutrals brads, 1/4" Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, Stampin' Write markers, sponge wedges, paper crimper

OMGosh, STINKIN' CUTE! (YILM!) I have to confess I used CONTRABAND scissors to do the grass, but if you don't have a pair of these you can cut the paper the old fashioned way.

Stay tuned for even more cute projects using the Summer Smooches Product Suite, which you can purchase by visiting my Stampin' Up! webstore. Ta!

Class cards from this past month

Yes, another month has come and gone and you missed it! I don't know how you live with yourself, I really don't!

But you'll be happy to know that I do forgive you. I know that pesky things like husbands, children, jobs, and the price of gas often get in the way of important things like my class.

March's class was called Some Like It Hot, Some Like It Cold and featured two tea-themed cards and one popsicle card! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Morning Cup, Favorite Thoughts; Paper - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Pool Party; Ink - Soft Suede; Other - Sweet Buttons Embosslit; Crumb Cake Taffeta ribbon, Pool Party baker's twine, Calypso Coral baker's twine, gold brads, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Write Markers, blender pen

STINKIN' CUTE! (YILM!) I had the thought of using these stamp sets together quite a while ago and I'm glad I finally managed it!

Ingredients: Stamps - Tea Shoppe; Paper - In Color 2011-2012 Patterns Pack DSP, Blushing Bride, Sahara Sand, Wonderful Wisteria, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso; Ink - Early Espresso, Blushing Bride; Other - Modern Label punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Itty Bitty Punch pack, Blushing Bride Pleated Satin ribbon, Mini Silver brads.

Isn't this GOJUS?!?!? (YILM!) I love the color combination, it's just so elegant and soft with the dramatic contrast of the Early Espresso.

And last but not least:

Ingredients: Stamps - Mouthwatering, Sweet Cake; Paper - Sweet Shop DSP, Pool Party, Whisper White; Ink - Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Versamark; Other - Scented Stampin' Emboss Powder Cherry & Melon, Sweet Shop Jelly Bean brads, Framelits Labels collection, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Calypso Coral Ruffled Ribbon, dimensionals

STINKIN' CUTE!!! (YILM!) At first I was gonna just CASE the card on page 34 of the mini but I just. could. not. do. that. It always feels like cheating to me, for some reason. Yes, it's not cheating, but I like to make my own designs when possible or at least change a design enough to make it my own. Yes, we used the scented embossing powder!

Well there you have it. Life is continuing here at the Tinklenberg ranch as we have started my husband's retirement process in motion. More i's to dot and t's to cross before life moves on. In the meantime, I have some tales to relate from the Boy with the Wayward Finger.

Will makes me laugh because he reminds me so much of a character from Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels, which are very light, witty novels set in wartime Britain. One of the characters has a son that is obsessed with trains and this boy will spout information about trains and train sets to anyone who is standing still near him. Will is that way with Lord of the Rings Online or Pokemon. He'll start out, "Mom, do you know what kind of Pokemon (name) is?"

"No, Will, I have no clue. You know I don't know much beyond who Pikachu is."

"Mom, (name) is an electric Pokemon. You should know that."

There is simply no stopping him. You can say, "I really do not care about Pokemon, please just stop talking about it!" and he will just continue to tell you his nugget of Pokemon wisdom. I've learned just to listen. As you recall, this is the child I used to long to talk with when he was not talking all that much. But it isn't always easy.

Today I was leaving for a workshop, and Will had to tell me interesting facts about Lord of the Rings Online.

"I have to leave, Will, I have a workshop and I have to leave."

"But, Mom, I just need to know if you remember what the name of the gate towers outside of Mordor are called."

"The Towers of the Teeth, Will, that I do know but I must leave." At least here I can hold my own, as I have read and reread Tolkien since high school.

He continued to talk as I walked out the door.

A couple of days ago, before we left for school, he saw a spider on the ceiling.

"Mom....MOM! There is a spider on the ceiling...(quieter)...I think it is STALKING ME, Mom!"

"Will, that spider doesn't even know who you are."

"Yes, it does, but I know what to do!"

He proceeds to go in his room, get his Nerf gun, load one foam bullet into it and shoot at the dang spider. He missed twice, then managed to hit it, or at least knock it off the ceiling. Never a dull moment!

Well, it's late. I stayed up late last night and the night before and this chick is gonna hit the hay. Ta!

Summer Smooches

I know you've probably already seen a bunch of stuff made with this cool product suite, available for you to order starting April 1st.

Click on the picture to view the flyer for this promotion!

But you know what? You haven't seen MY creations, where I share my stampin' jeenyus with y'all! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Bright Bouquet, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper - Summer Smooches DSP, Tempting Turqoise, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White; Ink - Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, Tempting Turqoise; Other - Word Window punch, 1/2" circle punch, Stampin' Write markers, Brights brads, blender pen, Basic Black Scallop Dotted ribbon, Signo white gel pan.

Have your eyes crossed from all those polka dots yet? I know mine have! And yes, it IS stinkin' cute! (YILM!)

In addition, I had fun with the new purse die. Lookie:

Ingredients: Paper - Summer Smooches, Basic Black, Whisper White; Other - Petite Purse die, Neutrals glitter brads, Neutrals brads, small heart punch, Square Lattice embossing folder

OMGosh, it's Minnie Mouse's purse! SO STINKIN' CUTE! (YILM!) I had the brilliant idea of using the square lattice embossing folder to texture the purse body.

The scallop around the flap is courtesy of Lydia Fiedler, who showed this brilliance on her blog.

And the bottom:

Shows the feets, courtesy of my friend Janice, who suggested this.

Now, that should give you a taste for some Summer Smooches products, coming to a webstore near you (in the sidebar of this blog, in fact!) on April 1st! Ta!

Workshop projects and good news

Hey ho!

Thought I'd show you some of the cards we have been doing at workshops recently. With the improvement in the economy, I have gotten some new hostesses ready to have some stamping fun with their friends, which I am happy to provide.

So the two cards I am showing you are from Rachel's workshop. She booked off a workshop I held in December. She was much struck by a Reverse Masking card she had seen in my box of samples and wondered if we could do a card like that. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Bordering on Romance, Word Play; Paper - Twitterpated DSP, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White; Ink - Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red; Other - Twitterpated buttons, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Framelits Hearts, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, sponge wedges, dimensionals.

GOJUS! (YILM!) The guests very much enjoyed making this card. This workshop was in January so while this card could be a Valentine's Day card, it does not necessarily have to be.

Ingredients: Stamps - Sweets for the Sweet; Paper - In Colors 2011-2012 Prints Patterns, Rich Razzleberry, Calypso Coral, Whisper White; Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade; Other - Lace Border punch, 1" circle punch, Rich Razzleberry marker, Signo White Gel pen, Calypso Coral Ruffled ribbon, Gold Brads.

STINKIN' CUTE!! (YILM!) I actually designed this card back in August for my open house, but thought it would make an equally good workshop card. It was hard getting the colors right in this photo and the Rich Razzleberry still is not quite right, but you get the idea.

If you live in Metro Detroit and want to host a workshop to provide some stamping fun for family and friends as well as receiving some free product, please feel free to contact me!

And now for the good news. My husband's Social Security Disability claim has finally been approved, more than a year after we first applied and after first being turned down. He won on appeal, thanks to great lawyers and his doctors going to bat for him, as well as a judge who listened carefully to all the testimony. Not to mention an awesome God who has been faithful to us. Our thanks go out to everyone who has been so faithful to pray for a good outcome. Now it's just a matter of waiting to find out the amount of the benefit and moving on to a new chapter in our lives. Ta!

Springing into Spring with the Freaks!

It's that time again, time to freak out with the freaks on our monthly blog tour! If you've just arrived from LeeAnn Greff's blog, you are in the right spot!

But if you started right here, fear not! You can manage to get all the way around the entire tour just by following the links at the bottom of each post.

This post is going live on the evening of the 19th, so if you find some posts in our tour have not yet posted, please be patient.  The entire tour should be accessible at some point this evening. Keep checking back!

This month's theme is Spring Into Spring, projects/card with a spring/Easter theme. Like most of the country, we have been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures, so this was not at all hard for me.

However, (and you knew that was coming) for some reason I haven't ordered anything new for Easter! So I had to make do with what I had! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper - Spring Fever Simply Scrappin' Kit, Pear Pizzaz, Melon Mambo; Ink - Basic Gray; Other - Fancy Flower punch, Decorative Label punch, Modern Label punch, Wonderful Wisteria baker's twine, Wonderful Wisteria ruffled ribbon, gold brads, window sheet

GOJUS! (YILM!) This was a project showcased in Stampin' Success a couple months ago. I'm sure you've seen a few of them around. This one use a piece of 3" x 4-5/8" paper from the Spring Fever Simply Scrappin kit. Score ever 7/8" of an inch, then form a 5-sided tube. Cap the ends with cardstock punched with the Fancy Flower punch, each petal scored and folded to form the cap.

Moving on...

Ingredients: Stamps - Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories; Paper - Crumb Cake, Wonderful Wisteria, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White; Ink - Basic Black; Other - Scallop Border punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Delight Daffodil seam binding ribbons, Sweet Shop Jelly Bean brads, Signo White gel pen, Wonderful Wisteria marker, watercolor pencils

Stinkin' cute! (YILM!) I dusted off this set for the occasion! I have to say I have gotten a lot of use out of this set and it's companion accessories set, but I don't think I had used it for an Easter card yet. Now it can retire, LOL!

And finally, the magnificent finale...

Ingredients: Stamps - Aviary, Baroque Motifs, Just Believe; Paper - Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Pool Party; Ink - Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Pool Party, Wonderful Wisteria, Regal Rose; Other - Medium Oval punch, Bitty Punch pack, Wonderul Wisteria ruffled ribbon, Wonderful Wisteria baker's twine, gold brads, white EP, dimensionals, sponge wedges

OMGojus! (YILM!) I had this idea in my head and it turned out almost exactly like I pictured it, which is always a bonus! I wanted to give the feeling of the birdsong I am hearing daily now as the birds welcome spring.

Well, I'm going to send you on your way. You are going to Yvette Ashe's site, where I am sure you will find something utterly wonderful! Ta!

 

Scrappin' the backlog

For a few years, from 1999 to 2003, I spent almost every night scrapbooking.

I started out stamping in 1996, figuring I'd save money making my own Christmas cards while having a craft I could enjoy (stop laughing!) The local stamp store was also the local scrapbooking store. I'd look at the scrapbooking stuff and say, "NOT ME! Not doing that, NO WAY!" It looked like too much work, after all, I could just load the photos up into albums and wouldn't have to do another thing to them.

Then my in-laws had their 50th wedding anniversary. One of their nieces organized their party, since neither of their two children lived in the same town. So to feel as if I were contributing something to this, I volunteered to make a memory book for them. And I got hooked and started scrapbooking my kids' photos.

So all the photos up to 2003 (when I joined SU! and started making more cards again) are pretty picked over. I remember I even staged photos because I had an idea for a scrapbook page. I was confident, though, that the continuous flow of photographs would keep coming and I would never run out of current photos to scrap.

Until my children started protesting when I took pictures. I also realized I spent so much time taking pictures that I wasn't really enjoying the special moments. So now...not so many photos. I got out of the habit of taking them, so this year I didn't even take pictures on Christmas Day. I think I need to photograph more of the nonstandard moments, because sometimes those photos make the best scrapbook pages. They represent memories that are not standard and that can often be more meaningful.

Now that I am digitally scrapping, I find myself hunting for these type of pictures in the backlog...the stuff that has not gotten scrapped yet. Since I started purchasing the photo CDs when I had my film developed, back before I had a digital camera, I do have digital versions of some of these older photos. So I was poking around and found a few that somehow I never scrapped, but are certainly scrap-worthy! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamp Brush Sets - Letter It Alphabet; Papers - Cottage Wall; Embellisments - Paper Daisies, Old Olive Dotted Scallop ribbon, round buttons, Rich Razzleberry grosgrain knots

I knit the dress for Emily, back when I was still doing a lot of kntting. She loved it and I can't believe I never scrapped these photos! And yes, GOJUS (YILM!) and all that!

Here's one I just finished:

Ingredients: Stamps - One of a Kind, Frames with a Flourish, Vintage Overlays; Kits - Blossom Builders; Paper - Rich Razzleberry patterns, Baja Breeze Grid, Baja Breeze Dotted Stripe, Blushing Bride patterns, Rich Razzle Blossoms; Punches - Hugs & Kisses, Flag, Simple Letters, 1-1/4" square; Embellisments - Flower brads, staples, Candid Frames, Staples

STINKIN' CUTE!!! I love this page. These photographs were taken on a day when I was trying to learn to use natural light to photograph the girls, and I had scrapped the individual photos I had made with them, but these of the two of them together never got scrapped. They were chatting as I set up the camera perhaps, so I took a couple pictures to get a feel for it. The two of them hardly ever run out of things to say to each other and are still great friends, so this seemed the natural thing to scrap about.

Now that I am "forced" to do a little more scrapping to provide content for Tink & Bell's Digital Scrapbooking Club, I am beginning to remember the joy I got from spending time on this rewarding hobby and the pleasure my kids took in being the "stars" in their own books. Ta!

Monochromatic (Almost) Fresh Vintage

I told you how much I loved Everyday Enchantment, didn't I?

Well, the Poppy Parade and Very Vanilla floral paper is one of my favorites from this assortment, and I just wanated to roll with that and see where it went. I wanted to do a monochromatic card with just Poppy and Vanilla, but it just would not go there. Soft Suede snuck in for the party. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Fresh Vintage, Occasions Alphabet; Paper - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Poppy Parade, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; Ink - Poppy Parade, Soft Suede; Other - Doily Triple Layer punch, Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon, Everyday Enchantment brads, Basics pearls, dimensionals, sponge wedge, Signo white gel pen.

GOJUS!!! (YILM!) I used to spend time wishing we had a vanilla gel pen, but then I realized you can sponge a littel color over the top of the white and change it into vanilla, in this case Soft Suede ink.

Remember, Sale-A-Bration ends in just 2 weeks! There is still time to get some of this wonderful paper and/or stamps!

I'm sitting down here playing with MDS on the most glorious St. Paddy's day I can remember, weather-wise. My corned beef is gently simmering on the stove and soon it will be time to go up and make the soda bread and start tossing the veggies in with the beef.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

The Last Scrappy Card

Well, not the last EVER, but the last one from my class.

For this last card, I decided to torture, er... initiate my stampers into the joys of weaving paper, harking back to this Artisan Award entry:

Back then everyone was making little quilty pieces out of squares, sticking them to paper, then running them through the Big Shot with the Top Note die, so my paper weaving was a brilliant (YILM!) variation on that theme.

This time, I decided that the Top Note die had been done to death, so we used another die instead. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Fresh Vintage, Perfect Punches; Paper - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede; Ink - Soft Suede, Poppy Parade; Other - Scallop Square Bigz Clear die, Curly Label punch, Postage Stamp punch, 1" square punch, Signo white gel pen, Everyday Enchantment brad, Chantilly crochet trim, dimensionals, sponge wedge.

GOJOMACIOUS!!! (YILM!) I have to say the stampers were not all that happy in the process of making these (sotto voce cursing could be heard), but once they were done they sure were happy! It's one of those learning curve things...once you do one, it gets easier to do another. And they turn out so GOJUS, you can't make just one!

I have been reading that a lot of us demo-types really adore this paper, and I add myself to their ranks. I will be so sad to see it go in only 3 more weeks! Be sure to get yourself some, free with a $50 order! Ta!