Jumping for (Macie) Joy

I've been busily stamping for the past few days and have really enjoyed a few new stamps. I ordered Melanie Muenchinger's "Jumping for Joy" from Gina K. Designs. I absolutely love the dancing zebra...reminds me of my happy Macie Joy. So I made this very quick card for her.
This set is so versatile, comes with many sentiments and adorable characters.

I also used AMuse's new polka dotted card stock, and adhesive ribbon that I picked up from Michaels. The sentiment is from Autumn Leaves "Everyday Sentiments."

We made it!

Ayden and I made it to the Amuse boutique. It is a tiny shop in North Seattle.

Isn't he precious? Ayden is a cancer survivor (Neuroblastoma--a rare childhood cancer) but you would never know that by spending any time with him. He and I had a fabulous two days, riding the bus all over Seattle. That was his only request, "Ride the bus?" and how could Auntie deny that adorable little face?

Back to the stamps, A Muse was very fun and as always there were many, many cute stamps. As you can see in the window, they made paper lanterns of their new cardstock...very fun. We missed Amuseapalooza in Seattle by about a week, but I was able to see the new Christmas stamps at my LSS, The Cottage Stamper in St. Charles, IL.

Also on my trip, I stopped at Stampadoodle, one of my mom's favorite stamp stores. (Their web site just doesn't do the store any justice. It is fabulous!) They have tons and tons of wood mounted stamps and also Nestabilities. I found this fabulous crab from Impression Obsession. I am experimenting coloring it with my Copics. Not ready for prime-time yet!

I've been stamping and organizing since I've been home. Later I will post my newest cards and my new stamp organizer. Hope you're having a fabulous summer!

A Muse or Bust...

Today Mark and I are traveling to Washington state to visit family and friends (Mark is on business). We lived on Whidbey Island for almost 10 years, so going back is always bittersweet. I really miss my family and my wonderful friends, but the time I've been in Illinois has really settled my spirit.

This photo is the only photo I could find of Whidbey Island. (It is a couple of years old, as can be seen from the sweet little faces.) To get to Whidbey, you take a ferry from the south (Seattle) or cross beautiful Deception Pass Bridge to the north. This is a view looking over the bridge. Whidbey is a very magical place.

We'll spend half of our time on Whidbey; have a quick visit with the girls who are spending the summer with their dad; then I'll have a couple of days in Seattle with my husband and my little nephew Ayden. He's two. I can't wait to see him.

We rarely spent time in Seattle when we lived there, so next week I'm going to hit Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks, and the A Muse shop. I don't know how I will be able to choose from the entire line of A Muse stamps in front of me. I hope Ayden doesn't get me kicked out!

I'll post a few photos (of the A Muse store) and bring back souvenirs (also from the A Muse store). Happy Fourth of July!

Merci!

When my dad was in town he fixed my table that is the center of my stamping room. It is a beautiful, sturdy butcher block table that he made for me a long time ago. (When I lived with just my two girls in a little apartment it was our dining room table.) My table suffered a little when we moved to Illinois and it has been wobbly ever since. So, while on vacation, my dad rebuilt the part of the table that keeps it all together. I am so happy it is no longer wobbly and would now survive a hurricane, uh...or a tornado.

I made this quick card to send to my dad to thank him for taking care of this silly project for me. This photo is not that great, but what I wanted to share was my little tab punch. I love how it looks like a file folder. File this one under "Merci!"

Bugs!

As I mentioned before, I love this new set of bugs from Inkadinkadoo. (This link is not the exact same set, but it is quite similar.) I decided to try working in the Inchie style using my bugs. I love the way this card turned out. I don't love bugs, but I realize that they have a job to do in this world, just like everyone else. That's why I used the verse, "Each of us will be a blessing to the other." Romans 1:12.

Black & White and Red All Over

These cards remind me of the childhood joke, "What's black and white and read all over?" A newspaper of course!

Tonight I decided to focus on a palette of black, white and red.

I just picked up a set of sentiments from which I used the word "Rejoice" at Archivers. It is a set called Everyday Sentiments from Autumn Leaves. I also used the large butterfly from a set by Inkadinkadoo. I absolutely love this set because it is full of bugs--lady bug, ants, butterflies, dragon fly, firefly, and a bee.

I think this card looks a little busy with all of the polka dots, but I like its intensity nonetheless.

My second Rejoice card in the same palette is a tulip stamp I picked up from Michaels. It is an Anna Griffin stamp. Tulips have a special place in my heart, since I lived in a Dutch town in Washington state. I especially love parrot tulips, rather than the perfectly formed traditional tulips. Although difficult to see, I added red glitter around the word and also along the petals of the tulip.

I think I'll take a moment tonight to Rejoice in all of the blessings God has given me. Hope you take a moment to Rejoice too!

Designs by Mom

My mom and dad came for a visit from Washington state and we were able to spend a little time in my messy, but colorful basement craft room.

My mom is just recovering from chemo treatments for Lymphoma, which is now in remission -- Praise God. So this was the first time in over 9 months that she had a chance to paper craft.

She made these fabulous journals for the ladies in her Bible study.

The top is using DP from Archivers that was in the Girl Scouts section. Although it is difficult to see, she cut out many of the flowers and mounted them on top to give a little pop.


The next one uses one of my favorite Bellas "sweetybellas" -- MWAH!










This journal highlights a new Magenta stamp that I bought at the Cottage Stamper. It is a beautiful image of a bird inside a frame. I love that this image doesn't need to be colored.




Finally, for this journal she used my scalloped circle Nestabilities. She also used a new Inkadinkadoo stamp with these fabulous butterflies.

I think we've now officially made journals for everyone!

M. Joy Jewels

My daughters have been making beaded creations for the last few months with their friend Sarah (click here to see some of Sarah's designs).

Macie's business name is M. Joy Jewels. (M for Macie and Joy is her middle name.) She and Sarah are quite the entrepreneurs; practically all of their teachers and also their principal are sporting their jewels.

Macie made this very cool watch a couple of weeks ago and I just ran across her image of it. She used green circular beads that she filled in with gold seed beads. She picked up this watch head for about $6 at JoAnns.

Macie is also my photographer and my sidekick stamper. She is in Washington state for the summer with her dad. I already miss her smile (and her sister's too)!

So much to do

I live by lists and when I saw this adorable list booklet on Pine's blog I had to make one. (OK, I confess, I've made 6 in two days and there's more to come!) It looks like she received one from Michelle Wooderson, whose blog I really enjoy. My first one (left) I gave to my friend Becky. She doesn't really understand the paper crafting "thing" but she loves getting presents!

I am going to put these together for end of year teacher gifts, so I made these with little pockets on the inside cover where I can stash Starbucks gift cards for an extra treat!

To get started:
Buy 5"x8" notepads at your local office supply store, and ask them to cut them in half widthwise, which makes 2-1/2"x8" pads. It cost me $1.09 to have the stack of notebooks cut at Office Max, but there's no way a paper cutter would get through an entire pad.

Then you'll need to do a little measuring to get the folder just right; be sure to use a slip of corresponding paper to cover the header of the tablet, otherwise yours will say "eMax" like mine does below...



Just add lots of patterned paper, embellishments and glitter to the cover for fabulous and fun gifts!

Below are five I made last night; one for my sister (center) which I used "My Friend Ronnie" stamps. It says, "I shopped, and then I didn't. I like shopping better." I really enjoy Ronnie stamps. They are so perfect.

Two are for Macie and Sarah who are having their "Sisters Weekend" beginning tonight. I thought they could use pads to prepare for tomorrow's entrepreneurial adventure (they are hosting a garage sale...yikes!). Then I made two for Savannah and her friend Caroline who are planning an end of the year sleepover (double yikes!). Aren't they adorable? So easy to customize for anyone. Everyone I know will have one of these little darlings in their purse before the summer is over!

Prayer Journals

Recently I made prayer journals for dear friends who were Baptized. (Yes, it was Patti's husband and children!) It was such a special day for Patti's family. It was a beautiful baptism that reminded me of our church in Washington where my husband, girls and I were baptized and also where my husband and I were married. So bittersweet.

So back to the projects. I'm using a new photographer (a 10 year-old photographer named Macie), so some of the details are not visible. I used regular composition notebooks that I bought last year at back-to-school time (the ones with black and white covers). I covered the fronts, backs and inside covers. Then I decorated them up!

My challenge was to make a masculine design for Chris without being too hokey. I used blue and chocolate brown, hard lines, and only initials, instead of his name. The scripture that personifies Chris is Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

For Jacob, I had been thinking for a couple of days that his scripture should be from Proverbs. I'm not even sure why. Then, I ran across Proverbs 3:5-6 which is a great reminder to put our trust in the Lord and leave it there. Good message for a tween! This was the first time I used staples in my design and it did give a more industrial look to the design.

Sarah, like my Macie, hates pink and loves blue. So alas, I had to continue working in blue. I love the scripture about how God loves us so much more than the sparrows. I wanted Sarah to always remember that God loves her so much. I used Luke 12:6-7. The birds are a stamp from Inkadinkadoo that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I embossed them in copper, which is very striking. There are such wonderful bird silhouettes available now.

These composition books are super easy and super fun. I really enjoy making projects that are utilitarian. I hope God answers lots of their prayers!