Thank You

I am a fairly new blogger, and not-so-new-crafter :) And to see people actually coming and reading and following my blog makes me a happy Brandie. I'd LOVE to be one of those 'bloggers' that you can't wait to read every day and gets those 'Good Blogger' awards. I have a ways to go yet- I realize- but you guys make me want to keep bloggin' my heart out. To know I have friends in the blogging community that come on here means a lot to me. So thank you :) thank you for your comments (which I definatly read and appreciate!) and following me :) Find me on Splitcoast stampers as lexgabella- I post different pics on there than I do here sometimes.
BUT I just came on to check out how my blog is doing and saw some comments and that made my day- so I just wanted to thank all of you for reading :)
Much love and God bless!
~Brandie~

Slow Goings

I am so excited :) After six weeks I FINALLY finished some baby gifts I was working on- woo hoo! lol- I am not the most motivated person- tho I love crafting. I need to get my act in gear because I finished some onesie sets as gifts, posted the photos on some local Facebook groups so I can start earning money crafting. I was trying to take kids in for a daycare type thing- but that isn't me. I like kids- I have kids- but to be one of those organized, structured dayhomes is not for me. I am more laid back and let the kids do what they'd like (so long as it's safe!) I don't like structured time unless it's eating and bedtimes. Other than that- if you want to play- PLAY! So yea, I don't think I'm cut out for that- so I am working on crafting for a living- why not eh? Do what you love- earn money to buy more goodies and who knows where to go from there?

SO I finally finished those onesies, as I was saying, and they were fun! Who knew that stamping didn't have to be limited to paper (insert maniacal laughter here).

So here's one gift set, I call it Safari- and boy did my Zooballoo cartridge get a workout!

All stamps are from Inkadinkadoo's acrylic stamp sets- I am unsure of the names, but one is the Baby Boy set and the other is the Baby girl set. I saw some BEAUTIFUL swirled onesies that I can't wait to try doing from SCS. So I mixed and matched the stamps, using the giraffe from the baby girl set and the elephant from the baby boy set. These onesies are from WalMart- they come in packs of four for $15 CND. The glitter is added by Scribbles dimmensional fabric paint. They are 3D paint, but I glooped it on carefully and 'painted' it where I wanted it with toothpicks. Then you can embelish with buttons, string, ribbon- whatever :) NOW my sister made a point- the buttons are tiny and someone stated that they were worried about their child rolling on their tummy and the embellishments pushing in on their skin- I think that the buttons are small enough that it shouldn't bother them- I think of zippers. The zippers push in, but don't seem to bother babies. ANYWAYS that's my thought- I could be wrong. We shall see. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, then stamp away to create faux embellishments :)

For the safari set I used my Zooballoo cartridge which not only has a full alpha set, but animals for each letter and some cute 'backgrounds' for the animals. I used the grass and the vines, highlighting them with green ink. To find out how to make the boxes- check out my Milk Crate tutorial in October, 2008. The boxes were just simple acetate boxes, you can find the tutorial for that on Splitcoast stampers- which is where I found it :) Super easy and really cute for a baby shower gift! (I'd suggest NOT doing newborn ones- as we know how fast they can outgrow them!)

So here are some other ones I made:

For both sets I used the SU! Beautiful Little Baby single stamp and It's Beautiful Stampin' Around Wheel for the girl one and an old Flourishes stamp set that I forget the maker for for the boy set and Martha Stewart punches for both.

Here are some tips: I did use pigment ink (I practiced on some of my old tank tops) NOW they DO work but here's some tips: 1. Stamp hard! BUT stamp careful- we don't want smudged! 2. Iron both sides of garments. I put a piece of chipboard between the front and back of my onesie, then placed parchment paper and a dish towel over the image and ironed both sides like that for at least two minutes. 3. If using fabric glitter or paint, you DO need to let it set for 24hrs- so no sewing or stamping til that's dry! Hope that all helped :) You do need to wash it inside out in cold water and hang to dry- I washed in cold water and dried it normaly (my tank top) and didn't turn it inside out- the image DID stay- but was pretty faded.

SO! That's how Brandie does onesies- I hope you try it yourself and package them up all pretty! I hope if you do try making these sets that you enjoy making them as much as the recipient will enjoy getting them!

Thanks for reading!

~Brandie~

Cards Galore

Well- tis the season for weddings. Well, sort of. With warm summer weather drawing to a close, weddings and wedding cards will make way for all the holidays of the fall and winter months.

But not quite yet. A friend of mine was heading to a couple of weddings and wanted me to make her a couple of cards. She also wanted some grad cards, but the grads are gone, my summer was busy and alas- I didn't get to them in time. But because she already paid for them I owed her another two cards- SO thank you cards they became :)

Here are the wedding cards:

This is definatly my favourite layout. I found it on Splitcoast and can't remember who did it- but I loved it! This is my second time doing this layout- I used golden tones instead of the pink. The edge was one from Martha Stewart- I forget it's name and bought it at Michaels- but I can't seem to find it on her website- it must be an older one. It's a 4x5.5 card. I cut a 8.5x11 sheet in half at 5.5 and then scored each edge at 1.5 and 3.5 folding the 1.5 edge out and the 3.5 edge in. After punching the edges I embossed using the Swirls embossing folder from cuttlebug, highlighted it with gold ink and spread gold stickles over it. The Patterned paper I made myself and was FUN! I used an old flourish stamp set and stamped randomly on a peice of vellum. Then I took a medium sized and small sized flower and stamped them randomly on the flourishes. I did that with gold ink, sprinkled gold embossing powder all over it and embossed it. Of course, you need to be careful when heat embossing on vellum, going quickly over the entire sheet and not too close (I've blistered a lot of vellum before). BUT the result was worth it! I don't know if you can see it too well, but I plan on doing it again as it was absolutly GORGEOUS! Then topped it all of with some frosted fairy tale flowers from Prima.

For this next card I used the Baja Breeze (my last sheet :( ) with the matching DSP (which I also forgot the name of- geez- I think I gotta start labeling my stash!) It's 5.5x4.25 and I overlapped the folds on this card. This one was fun too! I got to use my Storybook Cartridge and cut two background leave images at 4.5 inches. I sprayed them with some tattered angel spray and let them dry. The one side I mounted on vellum and then cut out a rectangle on the cardstock to create a window. On the other fold I mounted the die cut on the DSP. I added some more Prima flowers and printed my sentiment on the computer using the Word Art feature and mounted it with a Making Memories rim.

Here's the inside. I found some BEAUTIFUL wedding poems and (OF COURSE) forget where I found them. sigh. My friend loved these. It was fun (and actually, pretty easy) to make.

For one of the thank you cards I tried my hand at that Trifold technique recently featured on splitcoast- so here's my take on it:

I used neutral cardstock from the Paper Company for the base. I used DSP from Stampin' Up and added some simple embellishments. I wasn't too sure- I've seen some AMAZING other cards like this. Mine, to me, seems kinds "wa-wa". I used my new Lyrical Letters cartridge to create the argyle strips and highlighted them with some tan ink. I added some brads from MM and also a rim for my sentiment, stamped with the elegant thank you from SU!. The swirl came from one of my various acrylic stamp sets (which I organized my style, not manufacturer- so I don't know who made this) and a ribbon. I wanted it simple and sort of masculine- or at least not as feminine as I'm used to. I'd love to try it again- but totally pimp it out girlie style :D

Anyways- that's it for now- I've got more cards coming and some new templates to showcase. Thanks for stopping by!

~Brandie~

A Long Time

wow.

I mean WOW!

I am so sorry. It's been roughly two months of chaos. I didn't mean to abandon you all- I have just been crazily busy. Too busy to craft :( What a sad state.

WELL- we are all moved into and settled into our new home. It's nice to have the space. Wasn't so nice to have to clean up the entire house before moving in. GROSS I mean deep clean scrub your toilet elbow grease on your hands and knees type of clean. I am told that's normal. Ick- I was just hoping to move and settle right in. So I had to clean this place, which took two full days, and the old apartment which took the better part of one day. Then unpacking, settleing, buying new furniture and fixtures and then setting them up- that seemed to take forever. Then pregnancy hit like a rock and I was tired constantly. (cram in hubby's vacation and a some-what impromptu trip to Edmonton). Then came August with a ton of babysitting and helping out with VBS.

Now I have actually been able to craft (in my new craftspace :D) I don't have a 'room'. But HOLY HANNAH is my bedroom ever big! I have my space in there, which is very gracious of hubby considering it's like my desk exploded now. So I have been verrrry sloooow on a few projects, but I got my bum in gear and have tons to share :) So hold onto your hats kids- here we go!

So using Lauren Meader's "All Boxed Up" template, I created this cute box for a friend of mine who wanted some baby thank you cards. Her baby was born premature, but thanks to the miracles of God, the support of friends and family and LOTS of prayer, he is a healthy, happy BIG baby boy :) And she wanted to thank everyone via card. Poor girl waited three months (or longer, I lost track) but still has many people to thank, so that's good she can make use of them :)

Using a stars I created two sets of eight thank you cards. The images are from inkadinkado's "Baby Boy" acrylic stamp set.

I made vellum stars using my star punch from Fiskars and cut the vellum out, then I inked them and dabbed them with stickles. The star stamp from the set was almost the exact size as the punch, so creating a layered look was fun and easy :)

The other set I used my Stars border punch from Martha Stewart (I am soooo falling in love with die cuts and border punches again! They make such amazing embelishments and background elements!) For the focal point I cut the light blue cardstock to 5.5 inches and cut the sides with the border punch. Then I scored the sides in, just past the punched image, and folded the sides in. I them took some vellum, splashed it with alcohol ink, stamped the sentiment, and then glued the punched sides over the vellum (so the vellum was cut at 4.75? after). I liked the effect it's made. Then I glued the element to the bright blue cardstock which I cut at A2 size and punched the outter edge. I hope that made sense :P I didn't think of actually taking pics while I was making them. I was too concerned with actually FINISHING them.

Inside of the box:

WELL- blogging is tough when you have to go and edit the placement because the photos don't line up- and I'm watching SIX children today (aigh!) So I'll let that be that for today and come back tomorrow to showcase the wedding cards I've made for a friend of mine. Thanks for stopping by!

~Brandie~

Teacher's Gifts and News....

*sigh* Okay :) Less than three weeks and I'll be in my new home! WAHOOOO!!! :D :D :D I am super excited (I know- I've shared before). I've never owned a home before and it's mine- really really mine! They have the sold sign on it and the kids are registered and we need to move the bills over and the hall in this apartment is lined with packed boxes. Life is good. Great even :) Because..... (k- I can't keep a secret for the required three months) I'm having a baby! Baby makes six. I can't believe I'm going to be a mother of four. I feel like a dork for smiling so much everytime I think about that- but it fills me with such happiness. It's odd tho- I don't feel pregnant. I'm not sick- I AM tired all the time- but I just thought that was from funky sleep patterns and not keeping up with my exercise regime. But when I start showing and feeling baby, it will seem that much more real. Right now I am just focusing on the upcoming summer holidays and moving into our new place.

Do I even HAVE anything to share for the craftworld? lol- yeah yeah, it's coming :) SO a good friend of mine keeps me in business by having me make her daughter's teacher's gifts for every occassion. End of school no exception, I've made each teacher their own desktop stationary set. NOW- Lauren Meader (still so my idol!) has something similar in her "Timeless Templates"- this is not one of her templates- so be aware please- it is a variation of my "Brandie crate" that you can find directions to in the October 2008 posts of my blog. They are very similar and the idea of a stationary set I did get from her. So hopefully that covers all copyrite areas :) And besides- we all know that great minds think alike!

So as you can see- I used the idea of 'pockets' on the front (lifted from the mini-backpacks found on SCS- minus the flaps). The box is 6 and 2/16 x 2. So on an 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock I scored length wise (along the 8.5 side) at 2.5 and 4.5 leaving the back to be about 3.5 inches high. The other side I cut to 10 and 2/16 (leaving wiggle room inside!) and scored each side at 2 inches. Please reffer to my Milkcrate post in how to assemble. Note that if you want to add a decorative edge to the back- do that before

assembling :) You can see it- but I used the eyelet border punch from Stampin' Up on the pink one and the victorian edge (I think) from fiskars on the blue one. They match the edge of the pockets. Now- to house the 3x3 note cards you see in the front of the box- I made a 3x3 box. Cut a peice of CS to 8.5x4 and score at 1, 4, 5, and 8 then score 1 inch on the bottom. Assemble two of those 3x3 boxes and attach them together side by side and adhere them to the front of your 'crate. (now- you can add them BEFORE assembing your crate so you can put adhesive on the sides and front- I did them after and just put adhesive on the bottom with a little strip in front- it was pretty hard to get it just right).

So the pink set I used Bella Rose (I'ma have to buy some more before the end of the month! I didn't realize how much I'd love it!) and my Itty bitty bud stamp set.

So the gift came with 8 monogrammed stationary cards, 8 3x3 notecards and 4 2x2 tags. I just hope the teacher's like them :)

So the blue one is from Urban Garden (another one I'm going to have to order before the end of the month!) And again- just some monogrammed notecards, 3x3 cards and tags. I wanted to add silver to highlight the blue- so I used brads and tag rims from Making Memories. SO I don't know why- but I hope this shows up okay- I was having difficulty placing the photos :P Silly blogger. Anyways- that's it for now. Having some hormonal angry pregnant moments >:( BUT after my craftspace is clean I should be good :) Have an awesome day!

~Brandie~

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~