Weddings in May...

I can't beleive how much time seems to pass- and yet no time at all. I have been going to the same church now for almost six years. I was pregnant with my son- who will be six himself in October. It's a great church and I love it- it's smaller, but that's what I love. It's got that family vibe and I've made close friendships with other wives and mothers my age that I can relate to, as well as older ones that can mentor me and be examples to look up to. It's awesome and I love it. When we first started, we had a different Pastor who had a young daugher- in her mid-teens. Well now six years later, that little girl is all grown up and getting married today. My parents were closer to her parents so they are going to the wedding. So I whipped up another quick card. It wasn't as quick as the last one- cuz I tried a to make a blue card- and you should use a Stampin' Around wheel and then emboss over it with a texture plate. Looks dumb. Maybe others have made it work- but I couldn't. So put that in my mental "do not do again' pile and try a different technique.

Now I love gatefold cards and have tried different ways of doing them- I find them ellaborate and elegant with out being busy and over-the-top. I have never tried one this way. AND AURG! lol- I NEED to keep the camera out of reach of my beautiful children! As you can see- there is a smudge spot on the lens. I can't re-take the photo because I already gave the card to my mom who is at the wedding right now- and I had lost my camera cord last night so I couldn't upload it. Oh well- I hope you all get the gist of it :) As you can tell- I am in love with my new Fabric Fancies Primas- I NEED more colours (why is it that it's never just cardmaking- it's always an addiction. hmmm. Strange- ANYWAYS!) I don't know what this fold is called, but using a 5.5x11 piece of cardstock I scored at 1.5 and 3.5 on both sides and then folded the 1.5 inwards and the 3.5 outwards. I used my Swirly cuttlebug folder and embossed the 1.5 folds and then cut the edges using my Eyelet border punch. I highlighted the edges with gold ink by Colorbox.

On the sides I cut some DSP from the Bella Rose pack at 5.25x1.75 and adhered them under the outter flat. I printed the sentiments on vellum and mounted it on the DSP using sheer ribbon from Michales. I love the mixture of Gold, Pink and White- and this one turned out better than I had pictured the original in my head :)

So now that I am getting better at this whipping cards up in no time- I think I am on a roll and can start stashing up some! Now to only do the same with envelopes- maybe just buy myself a stack of A2- I've now gotten in the habit of making standard sized cards lol. So anyways- that's it for today- have an awesome weekend! OH- what will *I* be doing? Nothing much- just packing for our new place WOO HOO (first time home owner syndrom- sorry!)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Brandie~

My Grandma's Birthday

Well I have great news and excellent news :) Great news? I had no idea how much time I actually wasted (okay- maybe that's just enlightening news). I actually sat and crafted without spending forever on the computer or being distracted by t.v. and I can really do some creative damage in a small amount of time! Knowing this I hope to whip up more projects and be more faithful in updating my blog :) I would love to do this for a few reasons- one I do love crafting and blogging- it's nice staying involved in the virtual crafting world. The other is that I do love making cards and crafts for my loved ones- but by the time a shower or a birthday comes- I have procrastinated and didn't think I'd have the time to make anything. That is actually not true I have found. BUT for times when I am really that busy it would be nice to have some 'back ups' especially if a loved one wants a card to give away- I'm prepared :)

Excellent news? We were approved for our very first mortgage- our bid went through on the modular we want and now we are just waiting for all the legal stuff to go through :) I have an excellent craft space now- and it's going to be a bit tight in our new place- but you make due with what you have. Besides- if all goes well and we really do love the place- I'd love to add an addition later in life with two extra rooms. My daughter is 8 now and when she's a teen I'd love to give her her own space. I shared a room with my sister since the time she was born- and it wasn't too bad- but there were times that I wish I had my own room.

SO today is my grandmother's birthday. I didn't think I'd have time to make her anything- boy was I wrong! I did the box from clearlyistamp again (it is so easy to put together) and got to showcase more of my stampin' up goodies! AND I've never done THIS before- but I made a co-ordinating card! So here they are:

I used new Raspberry Tart DSP- it is a bit loud- but in small doses and with the right cardstock it is quite striking. My grandma loved the box I made myself and wanted one too- so I made this for recipes. I used the medallion technique from SCS to do the top- I was trying to scallop a square- but this happened instead- and it's all good! I was a silly girl- if you haven't noticed- and didn't buy myself ANY birthday stamps! Tons of thank yous- oh yea- but NO birthday. None struck me- but until I order some I will still be doing the ol' font and computer technique.

So I put the 'medallion' peice down on the DSP and then popped the outside up with pop dots. I liked the bouquet of Primas- their new Fairytale line is simply GORGEOUS! I also used the glitter flowers on the card. So I just tried to incorporate some of the same ideas into the card.

I am pretty impressed with whipping this up in only a half hour. No kidding- it takes me a complete day to plan out a card and do it- because I get distracted and try different things. I love the simplicity of this- I don't think I realized how simple it could be. I always wanted to do elaborate cutting and such- and tho that is pretty and unique, sometimes you can't go wrong with classics- especially if you have limited time! BUT it's time to make dinner here for the family- thanks for stopping by!

~Brandie~

STAMPIN' UP!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hello there friends :D Okay- I actually got my FIRST Stampin' Up! Package a few weeks ago- but I have been a bit busy to blog. Why you may ask AHEM Another first :D :D :D (I am really happy about this-in case you haven't noticed) Chris and I have been approved for a mortgage and are getting our FIRST place! YAY! So new goodies in my new place! It is a nice, newer 3 bedroom modular- so the girls will still have to share a room- and I don't get a craft room- BUT There will be space in my new bedroom to craft. I am super stoked! I know that this is just a first time home- and that when the kids get older I will probablly want more space, but I am so happy about it right now and I am praying that all the paper work goes through smoothly to allow us to get this place.

NOW Stampin' Up! When I was just scrapbooking- I really didn't see the need for stamps or SU or anything like that. Then the more I got into card making, the more I really desired some SU stuff! I would visit blogs and see how-tos on youtube that would highlight SU stuff and so (two years and a bit of savings in the making). I got SO MUCH STUFF :D it was the best Mother's day present ever! I got 6 Jumbo wheels, 5 standard wheels, a BUNCH of ink (woooooooow a bunch of ink! and seeing the inks themselves! I love colorbox for embossing- but man! One SU ink was TWICE the size for HALF the price- amazing!) I bought some in color cardstock and some of the new DSP- I love the Bella Rose and already have HALF a project made out of it and Urban Garden (I will add it plus a template when I have all the card finished- too cute if I do say so myself!) And a few stamp sets. I have a plan :) So I will set some of my monthly earnings from my crafting aside each month- and each time there is a new catalogue- I am making a huge purchase and should be good for a while. I am so happy :D I know- very lame but hey! It was a long time coming!

SO here is my first FINISHED peice of work using my new SU stuff.

So directions for this CUTE box is found at http://clearlyistamp.typepad.com/my_weblog/

I love her stuff :) and the box is really easy to make with simple instructions BUT you do need a 12*12 sheet of cardstock to make the outside. So I used some Bella Rose DSP and Pink Pirouette cardstock. So I didn't use much of my new stuff- but that will come later! I also bought some BEAUTIFUL primas in the pink flower fancy at Michaels, white ribbon, pink sheer ribbon found at Michaels and Bazzil cardstock for the base.

Now for the inside:

I actually made two inserts and used sticky strip to stick them together before adhering them inside the box so I had 4 pockets instead of 3. I plan on using this for my business - I have a space for sketches, a space for projects on the go (orders and personal projects) a space for wishlists for things I want-along with an envie for said savings, and a space for project material lists with an envie for savings as well. I love being organized and this will be great :)

So here are the matching savings envelopes I made to use in my box. So there we go! I am hoping to have more time to craft- but it will be a bit crazed- with end of school stuff and packing and signing stuff and moving- I hope to be a bit better with this blogging thing then :P So thanks all who stopped by and reveled in my good news- laters!

~Brandie~

Bella's Birthday Party Set

Hey folks :) Been busy- pulling a few late nights and I can feel them creeping up on me :P Oh well- I'll get back to normal scheduling.... eventually. So my baby-no-so-baby turned four last week and, as is tradition in the Nellis household, we had her birthday party with family on her actual birthday, and waited a week before throwing her birthday party with her friends. It's nicer that way because we can wait til payday and I have time to make all the little invites and such. Speaking of 'and such'- here is her party sets:
I was trying to be a bit more inventive with my camera. It's not the best one- but hey! It works :) I used an old skirt of mine (actually- it was my 'wedding' dress lol- yea, I wore burgendy- AND black!) But I've seen so many interesting photo 'shoots' done with people's artwork and I think that it looks better and was fun to set up- now to buy some pretty material to do this on a continuous basis :)!

SO- what we have here are party favours, invitations and cupcake toppers. The invites were really simple to do- a simple purse card. I used velcro to keep it closed and they were a BIG hit with all the little girls. The cupcake toppers were fun :) I got the idea from Wilton- but also from my mom. My neice turned 1 and mom was looking for "Happy Birthday" candies to put on the cake. I don't think they make them anymore, and then inspiration struck- what if I made a banner to put on the cake? You can use lollipop sticks to make it stand up on the cake and you now have a keepsake. I didn't make one for Bella's party because we did cupcakes and I did mini toppers (shown above) But here is a Tori's cake banner:

It's not a great picture- sorry :( But I used my Cricut storybook cartridge for the background and for the flowers and butterflies, I inked some vellum and embossed it with glitter/embossing powder and cut them out with my Marvy and Fiskars punches.

But back to Bella's birthday! : The cupcake banners were really cute and easy- I used the Wilton small lollipop sticks again- and just made simple squares using my scallope die cuts and the papers I used to wrap the goodies found in the party favours. You could spell words on them, or say "Thank you" or the child's birthday. I find these SO versatile and I can't wait to do them for other cupcakes for other occassions :)! Then for the party favours, I copied the idea of the invites to the party favours. They are a bit bigger than the invites (5x11 sheet of paper used as opposed to 4.5x10 for the invites). To make it 3D I scored it at 4, 5, 9 and 10. I only had a small tab left so I used that to make a 'flap' for the purse with a different colour and adhered it to the flap. On the inside, I made a 3D 3 inch pocket. Pretty simple- then I made a box to slide in the pocket.

The favours themselves were VERY inexpensive- the most costly thing was $1.00/ box of crayons- but I DID buy the unwashable (or the ones that don't say washable) because they were cheaper. We who have a Mr. Clean magic eraser will be okay with this :P those who don't- can spend the extra for washable crayons OR buy a huge box of crayons and just mix and match colours so the kids don't have the same old same old that you always find :) I also made some chocolate bars- it was fun using wiltons Write a Message chocolate mold- I didn't write a message- but I mixed the chocolate with nuts and made some almond bars. Also, I went to some different colouring pages sites and downloaded some Bratz colouring pages. I opened the page up and saved it so it was the largest size and I 'inserted photos' onto Microsoft Word and printed them on 3x5 sheets of paper and trimmed them. So here are the goodies all close up:

Again- they were a big hit with the kids :) and so simple! Not taking into account the pennies spent on adhesive and printer ink, a box (including goodies) is $3.15 each (CND) to make and all the materials. I matched prices and to buy a package of boxes, chocolate bars, a colouring book of the same size (ish) and crayons would be $4.50 each at the dollar store (CND) and to buy the really cheap stuff would run you about $3.15- so for the same price- and some fun- you can make your own. I've seen the girls pack around the purses like toys- so it's really worth the effort if you love doing this stuff- which I do :)

So now I have to go and clean up from said party :P Hope you all have an awesome day, and I'll come back and post real soon!

~Brandie~

Quick Stop

Sorry folks- no new projects yet- working my behind off for quite a few gifts: babies and birthdays and grads OH MY! LOL- I have some b-day cards, invites and favours to work on for my daughter, a customer and my darling neice who is ONE today :) I can't wait to show you new cake topper ideas that can co-ordinate with your favours and invites and are SUPER quick to put together :) So simple- I am so excited! And? They last so much longer than candy 'happy birthday' peices or icing decorations. Then I have some wedding and grad cards for a friend, grad for one of my Sunday School students who is graduating from high school this year and a precious little baby needing thank you cards. I've been so busy with personal projects for other people and some customers that I have yet to make any more samples for my webstore.
BUT!
I am so stoked :) I had my Stampin' Up party last night and in two weeks (OR LESS :D) I'll be playin' with some new toys! I also am ordering a stampin' up personal stamp so I can sell my stuff and still adhere to their angel policy- SO IMPORTANT! I never thought of stuff like that until I was checking out some company sites- glad I found that out BEFORE selling :) I am also stoked cuz I am not ready to become a demonstrator yet- I want to save up for the kit and learn how to drive first (nope- still don't have my learners even- planning on remedying that this summer!) so I have my own demonstrator and I have worked it out so I can set some cash aside each project and paycheque to get some goodies each time a new catalogue comes out. I admit it- I am NOW offically addicted to stampin' up! AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN MY ORDER YET! lol- so that's it for now- better get back to work so I can get my projects done for everyone and have something other than 'news' to blog- laters!
~Brandie~

Easter Baskets

Okay- I'll get to the post in a minute- I just want to share something exciting with all of you...... hehehehehehehehehe I am going to have Stampin' Up! Stuff!!!! Yea- I know!!!!! and No- I don't own any SU! stuff yet. I have been wanting, for the past year, to throw a party and place my very very first order. See- when I started papercrafting- it was as a scrapbooker (and oh- was I SO not good at that!) and I didn't think throwing catalogue parties were anything to write home about. I didn't stamp on anything- so why bother buying stamps and ink and buying packs of paper when I can go and buy paper at my local SBS? Then a couple of years ago I started getting into card making (also- very very bad start- I like to think I'm improving tho!) and that expanded to papercrafting/gift making as I wanted to make my own boxes. I stumbled upon candy making during this time because I wanted the whole gift to be personalized and I started buying Papercrafts Magazines to find templates for different box patterns. THEN while doing a internet search for various templates- I wonderfully and magically came upon Splitcoast Stampers and have been inspired, amazed and in love ever since. That was about a year ago- and I found blogs and wonderful inspiration from fellow paper crafters. And most of them had this in common: products from Stampin' Up.

Now- I'm an all or nuthin' kind of girl- so I wanted to wait til I could place a HUGE order (meaning have the money to afford a huge order) and that has brought me to here. A year later- my FIRST party is in two weeks and my wish list is GINORMOUS with inks, stampin' around wheels, paper, cardstock, stamp sets and punches. *sigh*. I'm so happy- AND eager to play with my new 'toys'! hehehehehehe

OKAY now that THAT'S said and done- on to today's post :) Easter is just around the corner and today, for many, is the last day before the holidays for the kiddos. So I never whipped up any Easter gifts for teachers before- it's always been cupcakes for the class. I think class gifts are cute and all- but really- kids at that age are just going to tear them apart and eat the goodies inside. Sure it was fun to make all that- but all the time and money FLOOSH down the drain. I never thought of making something just for the teachers before- and when I did- it was always too late (again- it typical Brandie fashion) SO this year I actually did it and here's what I came up with:

So I sort of got part of this idea from clearlyistamp- (I don't know the blog address- but they have some amazing ideas on there!) but I did mine a bit differently. Where their's was a basket- mine is more of a box. Not what I had sketched- but hey, it turned out okay :) So taking a 4x4 inch peice of cardstock patterned paper (you want the strength) score at .5 inch all the way around and just cut and paste a basic box bottom. Using acetate- 2.5x11- score at 2.5,5,7.5,10 and glue in the tab. (make sure you have about 1/16th of an inch on each side to shimmy in the box bottom). Put sticky strip along the bottom of the acetate and squeeze it together as you slide it into the box bottom. Press to adhere. I made the lid the same way- but I didn't glue it on. I made the picket fence REALLY easy and DID lift that from clearlyistamp. I cut some white CS into 1.5x0.5 strips and pointed the edge. Pretty simple :) For the flowers and butterflies I used my Marvy and Fiskar punches. The paper was fun: take some white vellum, and ink a slab of it (maybe 3x3 in square?) and while the ink is still wet- pour a mix of 1/2 fine glitter, 1/2 fine embossing powder (have it pre-mixed). Shake off the excess and then use your heat emboss tool to emboss it. Go over it slowly- as I have blistered MANY a vellum :) Careful when you punch it tho- sometimes the ink will lift off. Then I just added stickles, a tag and some sheer ribbon and done! I even covered the mini chocolate bars!

I am happy with it :) I just hope the teachers like them- they seemed to. I added some Easter grass to give the chocolate some 'lift'. Ohhh- I'd LOVE to find a chocolate bar cavity like these little nuggets so I can make my own. I would also love it if Wilton had different colours of foil. Maybe they do and my local Michaels is just too red neck to carry it lol.

SO! There I am :)

I am thinking of making a few more for my neices and nephews as a quick easter gift. They are older so they'd appreciate it better than younger kids would.

Now if I don't blog before then- I wish you all the best this Easter season- may the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus be with all of you as we remember His death and celebrate his ressurection- peace!

~Brandie~

Nightmare Before Christmas

So completly by surprise and not expecting it at all, I opened my facebook page to find aNOTHER message from a complete stranger wanting me to make her favour boxes for her child's thrid birthday. Well, I can't tell you all how exciting that is for me. I had planned on doing business for myself- but I sure wasn't expecting to be approached out of the blue like that! So- this woman's FAVOURITE movie happens to be A Nightmare Before Christmas- it is a great movie :) I watched WAY back when it first came out and would love to watch it with my kiddos. She already had invites and other things ordered from elsewhere- which was a bit of a bummer cuz I could have done those too- BUT work with what you have, be thankful for what you get and realize that when something DOESN'T happen.... it's probably for the best. I could tell that if I took on too big of a task I'd be over extending myself.

So here is what I came up with:

She wanted black and dark purple, so I came up with this. It's a simple 2-5-7-10 box that I cut the center out with my Fiskars circle cutter using the oval template. I put acetate behind it and smudged with white ink to make it smokey. Then I added purple pannels that I stamped and inked. I bought some new stamps from Inkadinkado found at Michaels. They have some amazing clear stamp sets now- and I bought the Hallowe'en one and used the super cute spider one that came with it. Inking in white- then embossing with my mix of glitter/embossing powder gave the webs a bit of shimmer. Then I just added stickles in Starry Night. It was really simple. I just finished with some sheer purple ribbon and inked the edges with silver ink by colorbox. The center was really simple too, I just found a photo from the movie online, copied and pasted to Microsoft word and manipulated the shape to an oval, used dimmensionals to adhere it to a scallop oval and put that over the 'window'. I thought they were simple, yet cute. I got alot of positive feed back from friends and the customer herself loved them- so that's all that really matters :)

So I am happy that people are coming to me- tho I am still eager to start up a Facebook group of my own that I can advertise and sell stuff on. I do like the idea of doing it locally, plus I don't HAVE to make a lot of stuff like I would for a farmer's market. I can just take local orders, fill them and VOILA satisfied (hopefully) customers! Facebook- it's the new ebay lol. Well- not really- but for me. I wouldn't do ebay because shipping can be QUITE costly. BUT the kids are fighting and I can't concentrate. NOT a good time to blog- but a great time for some air. We still have snow- but it's slooooooowly melting. Here's hopein' for spring!

~Brandie~