A Long Time Ago In A Craft Closet Far, Far Away...

Last night Engineer and I took the boys to see Star Wars In Concert.

Awesome, it was!

There was an exhibition room full of movie memorabilia, posters, costumes, backdrops, and even a couple of the galactic residents themselves. We stood in line for pictures with Clone Troopers, Vader and Leia, but the boys quickly got tired of that...said it reminded them of Disneyland.


So after checking the time we got some snacks, took our seats, and waited for the show to begin. Lights, lasers, movies and music...what a performance! And I don't mind my geekness showing for a moment when I tell you I teared up a bit when the whole thing started. Maybe you have to be fan to understand that...Engineer sure gave me a weird look when I told him.

With everything else I needed to be working on today, I just couldn't get that theme music out of my head and I figured the only way to do that would be to make a card. Yeah, that doesn't really make sense to me either, but I got to have some fun before the boys got home from school. I found some perfect clip art pages and looked for one that would fit the card I had in mind. I colored it with my Copics, but since I was going for the actual cartoon look, I didn't do any shading...which was really weird to do.

And now, I give you Master Yoda:


Stamps: CTMH Weathered Backgrounds (retired)
Inks: CTMH Desert Sand
Papers: CTMH Desert Sand, Bamboo, Colonial White, Garden Green


And I decided to give this to my brother-in-law who is turning 40 this year. Problem is, his birthday is not until December! So I better not lose it, right?

Here's what it says on the inside:



So DeAnna, you can't let your hubby see this! Got it?



And on that note, I've got to fly.


It's the last day of school (!) and I'm sure the boys will want to start their summer vacation right away.

Snowman Set Part 3

I finished putting up the rest of my Christmas decorations today.



No, the indoor kind. I've been told if I want lights on the house, I'm going to have to do that myself. And that could be dangerous. Physically because I could see myself attaching some part of my body to the house along with the lights. And financially because I could also see myself covering every inch of the house and yard with lights...remember Tim the toolman Taylor? My inspiration.

But you've most likely come here to see the next installment of my snowman cards, not listen to me talk about lights...



Stamps: Dustin Pike digital stamps
Inks: CTMH Crystal Blue
Papers: CTMH Tulip, White Daisy, Crystal Blue




No glitter on this card. Instead, I opted to flock his hat and mittens.


Well, the boys are home now and even though I did get all the decorations done, I left the tree so we could do it together. Got to make those memories!

Come back tomorrow, I have one more snowman card in the works.

Snowman Set Part 2

Wow, I'm on some kind of blog kick. Three days in a row! There's got to be something I'm overlooking if I can find the time to make cards and blog...I suppose it'll rear it's ugly head soon enough. But for now, I'm having fun coloring!

Here is the second card for my snowman set. This one really gets the state of emotion right about now, don't you think?


Stamps: Dustin Pike digital stamps
Inks: CTMH Twilight, Pansy Purple
Papers: CTMH Twilight, Pansy Purple, Petal




It's very sparkly in real life. Maybe because I used lots of glitter...and pearl mist. Everything should sparkly this time of year!




The perfect sentiment to finish off the card.



Now, I've got some time before the boys really do get home from school and I think I'll get out some more decorations. They say they want to help, but as soon as homework is done they gravitate to the computer games.

That's okay, I can make a mess all on my own.

A Good Day For Crafting

Sing with me now..."Oh, the weather outside is...wet." No, not a typical Christmas song, but then again neither is the rain that is drizzling outside our house.

I woke up early this morning to the sounds of wind ripping through the neighborhood.  As I laid in bed I thought to myself, "Self, this would be a most excellent day to stay at home and get some crafting done." And since I'm prone to agree with myself, that's my plan today.

We've been busy the last week with a couple of birthdays here. Sunday was Knock-Out's birthday and he turned the big 0-4.  Engineer's birthday was last Tuesday and he turned the big 3-something.  So with the extra pie in the house and two birthdays, I need to start my New Year's diet resolution early!

Or I could just do the typical running around-getting ready for Christmas-panic-I'm out of time routine.  Maybe that'll drop a few pounds.

Let me show you the card I did for Engineer's birthday.  He's had a growing dragon collection for most of his life, so using this image from Dustin Pike was really an easy choice.




















Stamps: Dustin Pike digital stamps
Inks: Printer
Paper: CTMH Stardust Reflections Kit

Well, that's all I have for now.  It's almost time to get the youngest off to Joy School...then I'll have two whole hours with just me and myself.  I wonder how many cards we can make in that time?


PS: I'm using the new blogger editor...not sure if I like it yet, I can't get it to do exactly what I want, so if spacing seems really off, I'll blame it on them.

Cool Cat

Part of the fun of belonging to some online stamping groups is doing swaps. In our CopicCabana group, we've started an Above/Below swap. This means when you sign up to join that particular swap, you make one card for the person above your name on the list and one card for the person below your name. I thought it would be a lot easier than making 10 of the same card to swap with a big group like I normally do every month. Two cards instead of ten, has to be quicker and easier, right?


Then I sat down and tried to make them. Have you ever made a card specially for someone you've never met? Not as easy as it sounds. So after visiting their blogs to get ideas, I got to work.

I don't usually use purples, but after looking at Billie's blog I figured it might be OK to use on her card. And I know she likes going to the beach, so after searching through all my non existent beach stamps, hey I live in the desert, I settled for this digi stamp I got a while ago.


Stamps: Hambo Stamps Cool Cat
Papers: CTMH Whoops-a-Daisy Reflections Kit

For this card I wanted to get a 3-D effect so I printed out several images and used a "paper tole" technique...which is just a fancy-shmancy name for paper layering. It works best with images that have lots of elements to it. In between each layer is one tiny piece of cardstock, which gives it just enough height without using expensive pop dots or dimensional tape. It does take longer to make, but I sure looks more interesting when it's done!

Here is a side view to get a better idea of the effect



I coated the sunglasses with Liquid Glass from CTMH and used a glitter pen on the drink to make it sparkle...makes me thirsty for some lemonade.

So I've got to get off to the Post and get this mailed...if it sits around here too long I might not want to send it!

Can You Get A Sunburn From A Card?

Today we have a birthday in the house. Loquacious is now 6 years old. He asked me to make him a card the other day with very specific instructions. He wanted a phoenix bird wearing a birthday hat and steam coming out of the hat. Those that know him can guess why.

Ok, then. The only problem was I had no phoenix stamps. And I looked for some online, but apparently "phoenix" does not translate to "cute, kid friendly" images. So I had to get inventive. I did find a digi stamp of a bird, a parrot, but I thought it would give me something to work with. Yes, I know it's missing the birthday hat and steam. But after the instructions he's given me for his cake...he'll just have to forgive me


Put your sunglasses on...


Stamps: CTMH It's Your Day (August SOTM), Dustin Pike digi stamps
Inks: CTMH Orange, Sunflower
Papers: CTMH Tinkerin' Reflections Kit, Black

It has been so hot around here lately and making this card just seemed to add to the heat. I get hot just looking at it!

I think some Christmas cards are in order pretty soon to offset this heat. At least in my mind.