Hanway, INK

SOS 35 - borders

2012-01-21T16:07:00.001-04:00

I had a request from one of my tweeps to make a card for a mutual friend who will be doing an IUI cycle in a month or so. Would I make a card to help cheer her on? Sure thing! I found these great cheerleader digis at Squigglefly - how cute are they?!?

Anyway, I colored 'em in using my SU markers (& a blender pen for the hair), and then popped 'em up on dimensionals. I'm submitting this for SOS 35, as the "borders" on my card are both cut from MFT dies - banner & grass. Everything but the card base & paper the girls are printed on was already in the scrap bin.

And yes, the banner says #cougareggs. :D

pdcc114

2012-01-17T20:14:00.004-04:00

I'm getting in (just) under the wire for PDCC114 - the colors were burgundy, gold & purple.The colors I used are SU cherry cobbler, kraft (spritzed with shimmer paint for sparkle), and concord crush DSP (no, really). Gold embossing powder & smooch spray shimmer up the card. I used Unity's Shoot for the Moon set to create this card, which is actually a congratulations card for my friend Mariam whose first book was released earlier this month. Check it out!

Mojo Monday 224

2012-01-16T19:59:00.001-04:00

I made the trek to the big scrapbooky store on the other side of the harbour this past weekend to pick up some paper I'd had put on hold & found this great Lego paper while I was there. Saturday was also the birthday of a friend's little guy, and he's a big Lego fan, so I set out to make him a (belated) card with my new goodies. I made the 4 panel on the weekend, then I got stuck. Once I saw today's Mojo Monday sketch tho, the juices started flowing again and I was able to finish the card.

This week at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog we're to use stripes and/or spots and I have both covered, so yay! two challenges covered! (i count the gingham paper & texture of grosgrain ribbon as stripey...)

multi-challenge card...

2012-01-07T18:53:00.001-04:00

I made this card for a friend's son, who will be receiving books from my son in a book exchange. I love Flopsey with his little specs, and "how to grow carrots" book. I wasn't very pleased with my PDCC card from earlier in the week, so I'm adding this one into the mix. It uses the colors specified by PDCC113, the sketch from MFTWSC53 & Flopsey is a critter, so SOS33 (rewind of challenge 16, again) is met too.The shading on his paws/ears/tail is mostly from using a blender pen with the early espresso he was stamped in.. The DSP is all SU - vanilla, baja & sage. Flopsey's stamped on a vanilla panel from MFT & he's got crystal effects on his specs. The sentiment is from my own head - "grow a" uses my LF alphabet set, and i handwrote (badly) the "reader" part of it.

My first Play Date Cafe challenge!

2012-01-05T21:24:00.001-04:00

I needed to do up a "quick" card tonight for my fabulous sister who's been visiting us this past week. I'd seen Leslie & Libby talking about this week's PDCC on twitter earlier today, and decided to try it with a lil 3x3 card.

The challenge was to use "Juniper, Mint & Vanilla", which I changed into SU colors to be Baja Breeze, Sage & Very Vanilla. the vanillaish paper between the sage & baja comes from a Basic Grey pad (but I don't remember which one ATM...) The ribbon is SU VV, and Shep the Sheep (from Lawn Fawn's Critters on the Farm) is stamped in light grey on SU VV card stock & colored with teh same. the sentiment is stamped in BB

Once I had Shep the Sheep stamped, I realized I also met the criterion for this week's SOS - redo a challenge from the past year (or use a Meljen's image). So, I redid Challenge 16 - birds/bugs/beasts. Not that Shep is a beast, but he's not a person, so i think it qualifies.

Holiday cards...

2011-12-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

While we sent out photo cards this year, I still had a few "real" cards to make this holiday season. These first two were for various secret santa exchanges I took part in. The first card was for a girl who loves "things with handwriting on them" so I used SU's presto DSP & sponged night of navy and bashful blue, cut a navy ornament & stamped a Merry Christmas greeting on it & "hung" it via a tiny strip of cardstock onto the presto panel. I used shimmer paint & rubbing alcohol spray to sparkle up the embossed panel & mounted it all on a navy base. some sheer white organza ribbon & finito!

Mr. Monkey man was for a kids exchange - same sentiment, and one of the child's favorite animals is a monkey (at least the day his mom asked him ;)) so I figured a sock monkey Santa was safe. i flocked up the hat & colored the presents with spica pens for some blingy-ness.

These last two were for one of my naturopaths - she commissions some cards every year. I based the lovely tree one on the prettiest holiday card EVER and the mittens card on Lydia's card... I'd seen the tree stamped somewhere else (Unity blog/FB perhaps?) and ordered it before I saw that card, but man, am I ever glad I have it. I looooove that tree. And really, it's Unity. are we surprised? Didn't think so. :P I added a few of Taylored Expressions' Twinkles in the tree to hide the glue dots under the vellum, hah...

SOS 30 - Tag it, krafty!

2011-12-17T22:48:00.000-04:00

This week's challenge is Tag It, Krafty! - either use a tag, kraft card stock or a DillyBeans digital image to create a project. Seeing as I love kraft card stock (sooo versatile!), I went with that. Oh ya, and our printer's borked (again) as well, so digi's are out ATM.

Anywhooo.. (heh). A friend emailed me last week, and told me her sis was about to adopt a 9yo, and asked me to create a card for each her sis & soon-to-be nephew. I had NO SWEET CLUE what to make, but I got to thinking about some of the baby cards I make.. trees... owls.. searched my pinned cards on pinterest & found more trees & owls... but not the "right" card. THEN I sat down at my desk tonight, and what's looking back at me? This Freakin' Adorable stamp from Unity. and look - mom & "son" right next to each other. Poifect! I grabbed my markers, and started coloring away. Eventually, I based the cards on chat's lovely merry & bright card, but used kraft/crumb cake & baja breeze instead of her more vivid colors, as well as a kraft base & shimmery white square & main image panel/sentiment vs whisper white. A bit of baja breeze sponging & seam binding ribbon, et voilà! I've put a pic of both cards to the left, and a close up of "mom's" card below.

Candy Cane Fudge

2011-12-14T09:30:00.001-04:00

Another favorite that's super easy to make & that everyone enjoys...

1 pkg (300 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 tbsp butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup finely crushed candy canes or striped mints
½ cup coarsely crushed candy canes or striped mints

1. In bowl, combine chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate, butter and condensed milk. Microwave, uncovered at high for 2 to 2 ½ minutes or until chocolate melts. Stir until mixture is smooth.
2. Stir in finely crushed candy. Spread in greased 8-inch square cake pan. Pat coarsely crushed candy over top.
3. Cover and chill until firm. Cut into squares to serve

SOS 29 using a Meljen's image

2011-12-10T20:34:00.001-04:00

This week there were a number of ways to qualify for the SOS challenge - make a mostly white project, one abt light, or use a digi image from Meljen's. I chose to use this super sweet star (which was FREE tyvm!)..

This card has NO STAMPING - very odd for me. I printed the image on SU Whisper white cs, then painted it with champagne bubbles shimmer paint. I traced the accents surrounding the star with my spica pens, and used stickles for the dots. I alternated flock colors for the scarf (yes, I 'found my flock') and picked up on a fleck of green in the variegated flock for the card base (which happened to be in the pile - woo!). The sentiment was computer generated & I punched a modern label shape out of green scrap as the background & set it up on dimensionals. I also made up "baby, it's cold outside" but didn't use it for this card, which will be going to a friend. Maybe I'll make hubs one too - who knows?

Anyway, enough rambling. et voilà!

cookie exchange!

2011-12-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yay, today is my friend's 3rd annual cookie exchange :) I've got 6 dozen (plus a few extra) of my stand-by cookie - Toblerone Shortbread - ready to go.

They're super easy to make, although I my stove forked up the first 3 doz cookies Friday night, which meant baking a second batch yesterday. oh well. more cookies to go around. I mean, a balanced diet is a cookie in each hand, right?? ;) I pilfered the recipe from an internet chat board I used to be part of many moons ago, so I can't say who exactly I got it from.

Anyway, I've had a few tweeps ask for the recipe, so here goes.(my comments are marked with an asterisk & are in italics)

Thisshortbread is a tender, drop style shortbread - different from thefirmer style that is pressed into a pan and cut into wedges.

1cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2cup + 2 tbsp Icing sugar
1/4cup cornstarch or rice flour (*I use cornstarch)
11/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2tsp fine salt
1tsp vanilla extract
Tobleronebar *I find the 6-50g bar packs work best - you get 5.5 dozen triangles, perfectly cookie sized. This year I found a bag of just mini milk choc Toblerones that worked well too. Cutting up chcolate is a PITA, in my opinion, especially when it's rather easy to find the 6-pks (it's an hexagon shaped pkg).

1.Preheat oven to 350º F.
2.Beat butter until light and fluffy. Sift in icing sugar and beatagain until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl often.
3.Sift cornstarch or rice flour and blend.
4.Sift in all purpose flour and salt and mix until dough comes together(it will be soft).
5.Stir in vanilla.
6.Spoon large teaspoonfuls (*more like tablespoons for me!) or use smallice cream scoop, onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inchesbetween cookies.
7.Press pieces of toblerone onto each cookie.
8.Bake 18 - 20 minutes until bottoms brown lightly. Remove and cool. (*I'd check at 16 min, because 18 minutes burnt not just the chocolate but cookie too on Friday night...)

And the winner is...

2011-12-03T17:42:00.001-04:00

Christine!

Please email me your address at chelle at hanwayink dot com so I can get your parcel together & mailed out this week.

There were a lot of great suggestions, but what I was looking for was my (mounted) SU stamp sets. There are none in that picture, just clear ones :) But thank you all for entering, and thanks for the comments on my new space. I'm loving it :)

SOS 28

2011-11-30T21:21:00.001-04:00

***don't forget there's blog candy in the post below!!***

this week's challenge at SOS is to use digital images/sentiments OR recycle a card part into a new card. Never having played with digi stamps before, I took the opportunity to do so. The lovely Lisa directed me to Bugaboo stamps, where this cutie patootie penguin was the FREE digi stamp of the month! I loves free!! i printed him on SU whisper white card stock, and set to coloring. i used SU markers (& blender pen), along with various atyou Spica glitter pens.

I used last year's candy cane dsp, because this was supposed to be a card for my friend's little guy (secret santa xchg), but i realized as I was coloring that he's not really Christmassy. I cut a "1" from my big shot alphabet, et voilà! my son's first birthday card is (almost) ready to go!His birthday isn't until just after New Years, but it'll be here before I know it!

Blog Candy giveaway & pics of new space

2011-11-28T21:37:00.001-04:00

Well, I finally got around to taking a couple (crappy) pictures of my new space.i'm in lurve. There's still some rearranging to do I'm sure, but I'll do it as I come to it. And since the blog counter is over 9000 (wow, thanks!) and I'm somewhat settled again, I have blog candy for you, as I promised a few posts ago.

So, what's in the blog candy? That's for me to know and you to find out. No, I just forgot to take a pic. There's a Memento Dew Drop ink, some unopened SU DSP (your choice!), this set from Unity that I ended up with doubles of, and a bunch of other stuff.

How do I win, you ask? Look at these pictures of my new crafty space, and tell me what's missing (no, the "correct" answer isn't a Silhouette Cameo machine, as snazzy as that would be...)...

I'll pick a winner from the comments this weekend, so let's say comments are welcome until Friday, Dec 2, 11:59pm AST .

It's alive!

2011-11-25T23:47:00.001-04:00

Finally finished my shelves & desk tonight!! i love it - will be a great workspace. now I just need to organize all the stuff into the shelves & clean up.

my chair will go on the left side of the desk, with the window behind me (not like i craft when it's light out, but whatever), and the main light for the room above the bottom right corner of the desk. The desk is at a 90degree angle from where i used to sit, so the light for pictures will no longer be behind me. yay!

I'm so excited to get everything set up & to start crafting again! yay!!

Paper Smooches DT Blog Hop

2011-11-24T18:52:00.001-04:00

want a chance to win one of the three new stamp sets being released by Paper Smooches on Dec 1? Then get your butt over there & check out the November blog hop!! That chubby little turkey is so cute. mmm turkey. wish it was turkey day here too...

anyway, I digress. Go check it out!

So close, yet so far...

2011-11-23T21:54:00.001-04:00

I picked up my beloved desk & shelves last night. Fit them in the Subaru no problem, hubs & I dragged the 3 boxes down the hill to the basement walk out, and in the Cave they sat until I had an evening to devote to assembling my craft space. Finally. So once the baby went to sleep tonight, down to the Cave I went, all set to assemble my stuff.

And it wasn't THAT bad. Except for the fact that the shelves are 58"x58", and I have approximately 62"x62" of floor space to work in. And except for the fact that I had two hours of sleep last night (not the baby's fault), so I wasn't quite on the ball. And uh, except for the fact that I couldn't find either of the rubber mallets in this house to pound the pegs in with, so had to use my hand and assorted crap that was durable enough in the Cave. Oh, AND except for the fact that my brute strength broke two of the dowelly pegs, so I will have a space without a divider (which will actually work out, as it will be under the desk, no one will notice... ) Oh, and this one's Ikea's fault - the bottom screw holes are so close to the edge, that if you assemble the shelves on the floor as shown, you can't rotate the Allen Key to tighten the screws.

As it stands (hah, it's actually laying on my floor) now, I have 6 bolts left to put in, to attach the left side & the bottom. And ohmygod, I could not continue fighting with it to get everything to line up. I had hubs down to help me with it, but because of pretty much everything listed in the last paragraph, I just didn't have it in me to finish up.So i'll have to try again tomorrow... after some much needed rest & search for the friggin rubber mallet (need to get stuff lined up better so the screws go in properly).

OH!!! And stay tuned... see the counter down there (bottomish right)? it's awfully close to 9000 visitors. Once it crosses over & I get my stuff organized again, I'll be doling out some BLOG CANDY! woooooo!

Top 3! boo ya!

2011-11-12T13:58:00.001-04:00

wahoo!! lookie who made Top 3 at SOS again!!! Yup, my Thinking of MOO card made the Saturday Shout out!! I had so much fun making that card - I love the DSP & lil Bessy with her bell (and blue eyeshadow!)..

Not sure how much crafting I'm going to get done in the next week - I have to prep the craft room for the new shelves & desk *dance of joy* which means weeding & VACCUUMING. ugh. it will look nice when it's done though...

Taunting..

2011-11-11T18:53:00.001-04:00

Oh Unity Stamp Company... how you taunt me so.

In the last week, I've put through two orders from this evil lil company... last week's order had A little playtime, Shoot for the Moon, and Hey Chick! which was a Friday $5 feature* & is not on the site anymore, booo. The other order was for a grab bag that I'd meant to put on the Friday order - $10 for 10 single stamps. Also, they have fab customer service, always a bonus.

But every time I go over to check out what's on sale, this is what I see... See that "YET" that I added? ya, that. like it KNOWS my weakness for cute stamps at a good price.I've amassed quite the little collection this past year, and I can't see that slowing down at any time...

*each week, one full size set (reg $19-25ish) goes on sale for $5. Sweet deal!

Warm Winter Wishes

2011-11-09T23:51:00.001-04:00

there are two giveaways listed on the lawn fawn blog right now - one at 2peas and the other at Clips-n-Cuts. You can win some sweet LF stamps from both contests, so check them out!

this is the draft version of what I will enter for both giveaways.. I think I will change to not quite navy CS to better match this fab irridescent mystery ribbon I pulled from my ribbon heap.

Update: screw it, no time to fuss around with a second card, this is what i'm going to use for my entries.Just got to take a better picture (with a real camera, Leslie!) once the damn thing charges...

Come to Mama!!

2011-11-06T22:59:00.000-04:00

After the table debaucle in the craft cave, I have ordered these two lovely pieces of furniture from IKEA - the Expedit 4x4 bookcase & desk, in birch, just like the picture. I cannot WAIT for my lovelies to be set up in my room.. I ended up using a local "Ikea buyer" who only charges 20% commission on pre-tax cost, which worked out to $45 instead of the $189 delivery Ikea wanted to charge me. So ya, don't always cut out the middle man. In this case, he's saving me $145!!

Until this gets set up (probably mid-month, he isn't going to PQ to buy until next weekend), my stamp room is a sty, and it is VERY hard to get any stamping done. I'm working on an old printer table, which is across the room from all my stamps & ink as well as most of my paper. It's a PITA, but I've had an order for 7 cards, so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, eh? 5 of the cards are done, and I guess I'll do up the last two tomorrow after baby goes to bed, seeing as I have to drop 'em off on Tuesday :) And then after that, well, I do have some sympathy cards I need to make (although srsly, what's the statute on that? people passed away end of Oct - will next week be too late to send the cards??) but will probably NOT do a lot of stamping until the desk is up & settled. I cannot WAIT though. Can't. WAIT!

SOS 24: second card

2011-11-05T22:14:00.001-03:00

yay, two cards in an hour!!

so, I had a request for a "sailing" card, thankfully I bought SU's Sail Away stamp a while back - this gave me the perfect opportunity to ink it up! As well, sailing is a sport, so another to fit this week's challenge!

I'd seen this card on SCS and pretty much case'd it, just changed up her black with basic grey. The base is from my pile, DSP is from a piece that has been sitting in my DSP bin forever (was whole, but my chair had rolled over it so i consider it a scrap), and the matt is from the cardstock scrap bin. button is from my stash, and the pale blue ribbon i have had for eons. it's all scrunched up in my ribbon bin after unfurling itself repeatedly from the spool. i actually just found a loop & snipped it, as i couldn't find the end! I could NOT get the button/ribbon to look like hers either, so i cheated (there's a glue dot holding button in place), but ah well!

And now for a ~~bigger~~ normal-sized (crappy) version of the same pic...

SOS 24: Cowboy/western/sporty (card 1)

2011-11-05T21:09:00.001-03:00

This week's SOS Challenge is Cowboy/western/sporty.. I think the "cowness" is pretty evident here.. I used LawnFawn's "Critters on the Farm" for Bessy, SU "Trendy Trees"for most of the sentiment, and fab cow paper left over from baby shower "stuff" for the background & sentiment. The ribbon is from an old SU ribbon sampler, and the cardstock was either in the cardbase pile, or the solid scrap bin.

Hoping to be back soon with a totally different card that fits the bill!Until then, here's a better view of the cutest card in the MOOniverse (IMO, anyway ;))-

The Disaster Zone..

2011-10-25T23:17:00.000-03:00

That's the state of the craft cave right now (uh, worse than usual!)... see, there was a bit of a craftastrophe there last week - my table, which I'd rescued from my old workplace 3+ years ago - bit hte big one. It collapsed, and there was no way to fix it that would be safe for use.


"compromised" nail holes - no wonder it collapsed!


pile of crap from desk

so before the desk died, it had to be cleared off. and there was a LOT of stuff on it. it did not look like it did back when I first set it up, that's for sure. in fact, the circled stuff in this pic is MOST of what was on the table... (the pic is sideways, i don't know why. still, you get the idea). at that point, i just essentially took my arm and swept everything to the floor.

I spent last night sifting through the crap on the floor - trying to organize, turf, etc. To me, it looks better. probably doesn't look any different to the untrained eye though. Not sure what I'll be doing for a desk, so I probably won't be crafting until that's settled. Boooo. It's too much crap to lug up to the kitchen & back down, etc. until then, I'll have to bake or read or something. or clean. naaaaaaaaah. :P

In somewhat-related news, would you believe that Ikea wanted to charge me $189 to ship a $149 desk/shelf combo? Fork that! And that is why I'm still looking for a desk :P outrageous shipping costs to this part of the world make me a grumpy Chelle :P

World Cardmaking Day (& then some)

2011-10-03T19:43:00.001-03:00

Saturday was World Cardmaking Day.. To celebrate, I made 8 cards (and an envelope). 7 are for a card exchange with friends from a chat board, and the 8th (& envelope) are for this week's SOS challenge -black & white + 1 color.


SOS 19 entry

First, challenge card. For this challenge, I used black, shimmer white & rich razzleberry. I CASE'd my own card for a wedding we're going to next weekend, with just a few changes. The main change was that I switched the silver matting to black, which I spritzed with shimmer to dress it up a bit. I stamped the branch in all black (I never stamp in black, hah), and then used razzleberry & white buttons on some of the blossoms, and razzleberry-esque Stickles in the centre of the others. I used razzleberry DSP for the envelope, and made a razzleberry heart for the envelope closure. Et voilà!

card exchange x 7

The other 7 cards are CASEs of this card from Pinterest. Bashful Blue skies instead of kraft, and a funky Unity sentiment for my friends, and there ya go. I do not sew on cards, so I used tombo multi glue to hold buttons on. On one of the cards, I tried filling the button holes with coordinating stickles, but it just looked messy. So I stopped that nonsense.

Unity sketch

There is a Unity WCMD sketch challenge up at SCS that I had wanted to do Saturday, but got to it on Sunday instead. The card uses three different Unity stamps - 2 from Heartstrings & Moonbeams & 1 from Could I be any Cuter? The elephant's googly eye is driving me nuts now, but hte ink is all smudged under it, so it's staying now, dammit ;)


random CAS

Last night I also made this random CAS, just because I felt like it :P It was actually supposed to be another card using the Unity sketch, but I couldn't handle the flower being in the top right corner, so I just put some ribbon on, and I like it. I think I'll glitter up the middle of the flower though - maybe with pink stickles?

Lawnscaping challenge: World Cardmaking Day!

2011-10-01T19:54:00.002-03:00

Today is WCMD, and they've got a lil challenge over at Lawnscapings. Make a card using Lawn Fawn stamps (easy peasy!!) and link it up by Monday night for a chance to win Frosty Friends by Lawn Fawn!

I'm going down to the cave now to play with some stamps, so will hopefully have a challenge card to share in a bit!

***

Monday night, and I'm back with this as my entry (which I may remake using a sketch seen on Leslie's blog (like usual...) )...

I used Critters on the Farm & made my own sentiment to make a "happy new home" card for a friend (the barn is paper pieced inside). I kinda wish there was a horse in that set, because then I could've been justified putting "welcome to the neigh-borhood" with a horsey face inside :P Yes, I'm all about the puns. Mature, no? :P

***
Later Monday night, and I've remade the card above AND made another card for a friend whose kitty was killed in a car accident :( RIP Nooners...

PSA: Giveaway

2011-09-29T09:43:00.001-03:00

Check out the link on my sidebar entitled "Kathy's $200 giveaway"... You can click right on the picture & it will take you to her blog where you will see all the goodies she has to give away! There are stamps, 2 different sets of Nesties, ink, all sorts if good stuff. Check it out!

SOS 18 - quick second card

2011-09-26T20:46:00.001-03:00

As usual, a last minute entry into this week's SOS challenge (no coloring). I based the card layout on a sketch I'd seen on Leslie's blog last week. I had the pieces cut out, but couldn't make it work. Few days later & fresh eyes, and it came together. I used a 3.5x5 notecard, flipped the sketch & moved the sentiment accordingly, et voilà!

(this is my first post using mobile app, so apologies for any weirder-than-usual formatting...)

SOS 18 - no coloring!

2011-09-25T15:13:00.002-03:00

This week's challenge is "no coloring", and at first I thought "eeek! but I like coloring! " and so was stumped. Then, my SimonSaysStamp order came in, with the awesome Graphic45 Magic of Oz pads I ordered (to make my sis' xmas gifts with), and well, it all came together.

This is the card that will be my "official" entry for the challenge. Love teh Scarecrow, and found some raffia to use instead of ribbon, as I thought it was more fitting... I pulled the More Mustard color from his hat, voilà! I actually used the back of an embossed piece of kraft to mount Scarecrow on - figured it fit better than the front... It's a simple card, but there's absolutely no coloring, as per challenge guidelines.

These are two of the other cards I've made for my sister's gift (which will be a set of cards - 8? 10? 12? not sure yet, plus an 8x8 pad of Magic of Oz paper... she's that much of a fan). The Wicked card qualifies for the challenge as well, but it's pretty plain, so I"m not entering it. I did do a bit of coloring with my red Spica pen on the ruby slippers,but you can't have ruby slippers that don't sparkle! that would just be wrong! A little bit of seam binding ribbon & another card done!

SOS 16

2011-09-12T13:35:00.000-03:00

Y'know, I love when I make a card and then realize it totally fits the bill for a challenge :)

This week on SOS the challenge is Birds, Bugs or Beasts (no people!!) ... I made this card on Thursday to go with a friend's baby shower gift, and then realized today that it meets the challenge criteria... yes, mama's that slow :P Anyway, I had seen this card earlier in the day on the Simon Says Stamp blog and loved it, so made it my own... I quite like how it turned out... and almost no stamping! Just the sentiment from SU's Short & Sweet (my fave set EVAH) and Lawn Fawn's Bannerific. . And then I got to thinking, hey, there's a second shower gift I have to send in the same package, I should try a pink version... so I did! I used the stork & made a sentiment using Lawn Fawn's Plus One set.

ETA: the stork/owl are what qualifies these cards for the challenge...

And here are the cards with their matching envelopes...

We have a winner!!

2011-09-10T20:38:00.000-03:00

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my entry in last week's blog hop!

As promised, the winner was chosen today, using random.Hanway (ie hubs) to pick a number between 1 & 55.

He chose 28, which was Silvia!

Congratulations!!!

Fall Fun Blog Hop!

2011-09-05T10:26:00.002-03:00

Hello and welcome to the Fall Fun Blog Hop! A group of online buddies decided the holiday weekend in the US (and Canada!!) would be a GREAT time to get inky together, and so we've put together a fall themed blog hop to inspire you as the autumn approaches. As you meet our stampy bloggers today, you may discover that some have goodies for you, so be sure and visit everyone on the list. We have hoppers from all over the globe today, and they are amazing artists.

Thanks for visiting us - grab yourself a nice fall beverage and enjoy!

Here is the full list of our blog hoppers today:

Lydia Fiedler
Libby Hickson
Kim Williams
Michelle Single
Lee Murphy
Sara Henton
Yapha Mason
Lisa Adametz
Jimmi Mayo
Jeanne Streiff
Bev Gerard
Shannon
Dana Keith
Joan Ervin
Maren Benedict
Teresa Kline
Hannah Clark
Dina Kowal
Wanda Cullen
Korin Sutherland
Taylor Usry
Monika Davis
Harriet Skelly
Kim Schofield
Cathy McCauley
Mary Marsh
Julia Aston
Bridget Finlay
Alison Habetler
Leslie Hanna
Sue Farrant
Michelle Hanway
Misti Oblander
Judy Rozema
Jenna Barber
Tammy Hershberger
Eva Dobilas
Kerri Michaud
Cheryl Navarrete
Neva McMullen
Marianne
Samantha
Cindy Wallach

You've made it this far, so I'll keep it short... here's my card for the blog hop. It combines a stamp set I love (SU's Season of Friendship) with colors I don't usually use, especially together! baja breeze & cajun craze? more mustard?!? well ok, i love baja but still. the colors were taken from the DSP I used - a SU pack from many moons ago. I knew I was ~~hoarding~~ saving it for a special ocassion! The card itself is a case of this beauty on splitcoast. I used the Top Note tho, because it's my favorite (and I didn't have the right size circle...) I added the birdie for our hostess with the mostess, Lydia , and some ribbon just because.

Oh. Did I forget to mention I've got some blog candy up for grabs?? How's this...


yummy blog candy!

Package will include...

SU Night & Day Specialty DSP (unopened pk)
MS stickers (2 sheets each of glittery witch & gothic owl and 1 sheet of dimensional "finishing touches") MS clear alphabet stamps "goo" pattern
MFT WTG set "coffee? tea?" (not in pkg, but never seen ink)
MFT ribbon nest in coffee colors (similar to "brown collection" but with a stripey grosgrain & faux-suede instead of taffeta & chiffon)

Just leave a comment on this post by 11:59PM AST Friday, Sept 9, 2011 and I will choose the winner sometime that following weekend.

Your next stop on the hop is MISTI at A Card a Day.

SOS 14...

2011-08-29T21:55:00.009-03:00

I'm getting in under the wire again! This week's challenge is to use Red or Roses or Ribbon.. I've got 2/3 again - Real Red cardstock AND ribbon. I used a ribbon slide to get the ribbon to mimic the strap on the boy's books..

I love these Greeting Card Kids (SU), and don't break them out nearly enough. I will be sending this to a teacher friend who's back to school getting her classroom ready (school starts within the next week up here)..

********
Totally unrelated head's up... See the badge on the right sidebar? I'm taking part in Understandblue's Fall Fun Blog Hop, next Monday, September 5/11. There are a TON of people participating, and some (perhaps me!) will be offering blog candy to boot. Check back then to see all the lovely fall goodness that will be up for display!

SOS challenge - gettin in under the wire!

2011-08-08T17:16:00.001-03:00

This week's SOS Challenge (#11) was to use Violets, Vellum or Violins... and I got 2/3 of the V's covered in my card - vellum & violet. Well, it's plum, not violet, but shhhh ;) I kinda CASE'd this beautiful page I pinned on Pinterest... except the hydrangea went on vellum over the "old book page" (read: DSP that looks like old pages...)

Winner winner Chicken Dinner!

2011-08-07T21:16:00.000-03:00

well, not a chicken dinner, but of two crafty giveaways this weekend!! wooo! Gee... things happen in 3s.. maybe I should buy a lottery ticket?

First off, my name was picked as the random winner for July at SOS, and then I was chosen as the winner of the week 2 getaway at PaperGrace Designs! SO I will have a pad of Basic Grey's Lauderdale 6x6 paper pad (so bright & lovely!) and a Tim Holtz Visual Artistry stamp set coming my way from the SOS peeps, and I need to pick a Gina K stamp set as my prize from Papergrace Designs' contest. Not sure which I'll pick, but I like "Oh Boy!" and "Gnome One Like You"..

I have been crafting a bit, but no pictures yet. Nothing secretive, just lazy :P Hope to have a few to show you soon!

SOS Challenge #8

2011-07-14T13:36:00.000-03:00

This week's SOS challenge is Out with the Old or In with the New..... "Use the paper and/or embellishments that you have “saved” because it was special, find your oldest designer paper and use it, OR break out your newest items and use THEM! Be sure to tell us what you are using in your post!"

I still had my last shipment from SU sitting in it's box - mostly stuff from the retiring list, so I chose paper (sweet & sour DSP) AND ribbon (pumpkin pie taffeta) from the box. And I lurve the finished product!

Once again, I needed gift card holders, so same basic design as the "thanks a latte" cards from a few weeks ago, but diff colors. I cut the DSP too narrow, so used the narrower part of the Top Note die, and made square cards & then envies to match, also with paper from the pack of DSP. Please excuse the white border inside the envelope - double sided tape for mailing :)

Check out this giveaway!

2011-07-09T09:54:00.000-03:00

My friend Lisa at Papergrace Designs is having a Grand Opening Celebration, and this week you can win a Gina K stamp set up to $24.95 in value! Go check her blog out and enter to win this great prize!

SOS challenge #7

2011-07-06T20:35:00.000-03:00

A new challenge was posted at SOS yesterday, and I had a few cards to make, so I took to the cave to see if i could incorporate the challenge elements into my cards.

This week's challenge was to "use something you got in a swap, a RAK, won, or a card kit or page kit, etc." I had used a piece of scrap DSP for part of one card (I was making three at once, almost all the same) and then realized I could make the whole card from papers from the old old old SU Simply Scrappin Kit the scrap had come from. So I did :) I used two colors of textured CS & a few pieces of the DSP from the Creative License kit (2007-08) that I had received as card candy at some point in time.

I believe the brown cards also qualify, as the card bases & heart papers (and possibly ribbon) came as parts of MFT kits, but not together, and I don't know which kits, so I'm not worried about that :P Blue card definitely fits the bill though :)

Check out Papergrace Designs Grand Opening!!

2011-07-03T20:17:00.000-03:00

I have an awesome tweep named Lisa, and she's got a wicked month of grand opening giveaways on her blog - Papergrace Designs. This week's prizes are $25 gift certificates to My Favorite Things and $25 gift certificate to Pixie Dust Paperie! Sweeet, huh?

now go... go quickly. and tell her Chelle sent you. MWAH!

SOS challenge the 6th!

2011-06-30T06:51:00.000-03:00

I made two cards last night that fit the bill for the 6th challenge at the SOS blog: Scrap Attack! The challenge this week is to...

Use only scraps for your project - (card base or similiar "base" ok to use new) but use some of the scraps- paper, ribbons, the odd sinlge embellishment, etc OR recycle something- redo a former card, use something that was intended for a different purpose- ribbon from a package, coffee cup sleeve, corrugated paper, button from a shirt, etc. Be sure to note in your post how your entry fits the challenge!*

This was the first card I made while sifting through my bin o' parts... I had a couple of the Top Note dies, and a few pieces of old olive with the scalloppy border, and figured those went together, then what? I went to my "DSP bin" and found a piece of 4"x probably 6" or 8" that was from an old retired SU pack, and thought htat together they'd look all right, so trimmed that up. I overlapped the scalloped border pieces so they fit the Top Note, and mounted that all on the DSP layer, and mounted it on a Delightful Daffodil base from the 'pile o' card bases'*. The yellow in the DSP is So Saffron, but I think it's ok, no? Anyway. In ANOTHER bin of bits & pieces (oops?) I found the little green bit, stamped thank you on it, and punched a hole with the crop-o-dile & threaded some scrap ribbon through & tied a cute lil bow. I offset the sentiment with the scalloped side, and quite like how it turned out. Funny, took me forever to make what looks like such a simple card (especially when I didn't have to punch or really cut anything!!)

And then because I had a second Top Note cutout, I went sifting through my DSP cut-piece bin (aka scrappish pile) and found the soft suede piece (from a CHRISTMAS pack of DSP. woo!) - already cut to almost perfect size, and thought that it set off the colors in the top note nicely. But what to use for a card base?? I went to my handy pile of pre-cut card bases* and found the turquoise.. there actually isn't turquoise in the paper, but the brown is bold enough to kinda hide that fact, and make it look like they go together :P I found a decent length scrap of soft suede ribbon in the ribbon bin, put that on, and then then punched the little brown and pink pieces for the sentiiment (both from scrap of course) et voilà! A second card was born!

*Both cards fit the 'scrap only' challenge - no full pieces of paper were cut into, parts were either existing or from larger pieces of scrap, ribbons were in 'ribbon bit pile'

**Whenever I cut into a 'virginal' piece of cardstock, and leave more than half a page, I cut a 4.25"x5.5" piece and put it in my 'card base pile'.

SOS Challenge #5

2011-06-27T00:08:00.002-03:00

"Use your Tools"...
Items for this card that hadn't been used in a while (or ever, as for the flowers)...:
-1 1/4" punch
-flower embellishments
-brown tiny brads
-cropodile
Things I leraned making this card: I don't own a 1" square punch. I was sure I did, and I know "how hard is it to cut a 1" square?" even with a paper cutter, i can still screw it up. I have 3/4" and 1 1/4", but not 1" .. guess I know what's on the list for my next SU order/trip to Michael's...

Thanks a latte!!

2011-06-23T21:05:00.002-03:00

I needed to make a couple of thank you cards for friends this week, and wanted to include some gift cards, so I inked up a fave old set (font of you) and whipped up these babies.

I used a pattern my old SU downline (the fabulous Heather Summers) had shared on her blog many moons ago. Basically, cut a 5x11" strip of paper and score at 3.5", 5.5" & 7.5". fold so the paper makes a W pattern, then run through the Big Shot using the Top Note die, making sure to not cut through the folded edge. Then attach to a piece of 4.25x5.5 card stock, and you're almost done! Because the paper that goes through the Big Shot is pretty thick, there ends up being a fold of sorts on the 'front' of the die cut piece. Enter scallop circle :P A quick stamp & some sponging around the edges, et voilà! I made sure to attach a piece from my ribbon stash (!!) running under & over the die cut before I attached everything.

I then punched a hole in the scallop to thread the ribbon through so it could be tied closed. Inside, I used the scallop edge punch to cut through the centre fold so that the gift card would stay. A piece of red tape was used to hold the two small inner pieces together. And there you have it.

father's day cards

2011-06-19T00:27:00.024-03:00

I had to make three father's day cards this year... one for each of our dads, and one for hubs. I based this first card on the card I did for the first SOS challenge... This first card actually ended up doing double duty as J's dad's birthday and father's day card (BONUS!!)...

My dad is a birdlover, and he also loves the color yellow. So I used some of the DSP with chickadees on it, plus some Night of Navy & Daffodil Delight paper to make this for him, based on a card from SCS.

And last is the card I made for J using my fave Unity set, "Little Me". I just stamped it, did some quick coloring with blender pens, mounted it on kraft & put down some Marina Mist DSP & kraft taffeta ribbon, et voilà! Simple, but I like it...

Thank you

2011-06-05T22:04:00.000-03:00

Baby Boy & I are leaving for a week and a half on Tuesday, and will be staying at my sister's place while we're away. I wanted to make her a special card to say thanks for having us, and for everything she's picked up for us for our trip (diapers, formula, a bouncy chair, etc). Her favorite color has always been green, so when I saw this card on SCS I thought it'd be perfect for her. I changed it up a bit, but still like my end result.

While we're on vacay, we're borrowing some key pieces of baby gear - stroller, car seat & play pen - from a friend. This saves me soooo much of a headache, least I can do is a card for her, right? (I'll probably take her out for dinner too). So more surfing SCS, and I found this. I switched it up a bit, as I have issues using that embossed bit vertically. it just seems backwards to me.

Last is a card I made for my neighbor who watched baby for me for a few hours last week (first time with a non-family member! and we all survived!! :P). These neighbors are great, and to thank them for everything, I got them a nice springy bouquet, and made them this card. I had bought the retired SU set with french phrases from Leslie a while back, and finally inked it up. You can't see the stamp very well, but trust me, it says Merci :P I wrote "pour tout" underneath it, because really, it was a true "thanks for everything" kinda card.

more baby cards...

2011-06-04T23:23:00.000-03:00

It seems kind of silly to make cards for various holidays for my baby boy (5 months old today!!) but I can't help it. I made a quick one for him for Valentine's day -I felt the "you stole my heart" sentiment was only fitting, no?

I also made him an Easter card using SU's A Good Egg set... I flocked up that little chick, and used the shimmery paper for his egg. and then for some reason, i put ANOTHER egg on the card. Ahhh whatever :P I used my fave blue argyley paper for hte sky, and an egg wrap from last year's Eggcoutrements set for the grass.

WHen you have a baby, people like to give you (the baby) stuff, and I have made at least 40 thank you cards since he's been born. That doesn't even cover the shower cards I made in the fall!! What can I say, we're blessed.
First I made about 30 of these:

then I ran out of the brown/blue DSP, so I switched to some of these...

But sometimes you get a gift that warrants a special card all it's own. And that gift came from J's friends in northern NB. They sent us an email shortly after Joel was born, saying that they'd ordered something for us from Chapters, and it was being delivered directly to us. Cool, awesome, you didn't have to, etc. So no problem. We get a parcel card to pick something up at the post office, so we attempt to pick it up on our way home from an appointment one day. Well. They got us (Joel) a wagon. Ever seen a box for a wagon? Ya, huge. Must've taken us 20 minutes to figure out how to fit the three of us, his stroller & the wagon into our vehicle. So I decided I'd make them a card with a wagon on it to thank them for this awesome gift. I used my MFT dies for the grass & clouds, and tried to model my wagon as closely as possible to the real wagon.. the body's a bit high, but eh. A quick "Thank you" on the front, and inside I wrote "for the sweet ride" :)

Last baby card.. is a welcome new baby card I made using the Little Me set by Unity that I posted about yesterday. I love love love this card & set. And it's a true equal-opportunity card. There are products from 4 different companies on it! Unity for the Little Me and Moonbeams & Heartstrings (in background) sets, My Minds Eye DSP, Lawn Fawn for the polaroid stamp (from Say Cheese), and SU Short & Sweet set, Wild Wasabi & Glossy White CS & awesome WW seam binding ribbon. I love love love this card. It was a bit fussy, because the dad is actually looking in the other direction, so I had to make sure to not stamp his eyes, and I kinda cut off one of his arms, but all in all, I love it.

They liked me!!

2011-06-04T02:15:00.000-03:00

They really liked me!

Ta-da!!

My first SOS challenge card (woven ribbon) was picked as one of the top 3 (5..) in the challenge! Friday was a long, crazy day & it's so nice to end on a high note.

Stashers - this is one way to keep me coming back :)

For a very special family..

2011-06-03T15:00:00.002-03:00

Today is the day that a bloggy tweep friend (how's that for a description??) and her husband are expanding their family by two. The two sweet little girls (sisters) that they are adopting are coming HOME. <3 A number of us are throwing an online "shower" of sorts for the family, as well, we're over the MOON for this family, and well, the original timeline had the girls coming home to them in JULY. and yes, today is June 2. Funny how things work, eh? I went shopping and bought some stuff for the girls yesterday, and will be sending their a gift today (as well as something for the new mom & dad), but I knew I needed a special card for the family to say congratulations & welcome.

So I pulled out my favorite set ATM - Little Me by Unity Stamp Co. (Isn't it cute? Trust me, you'll be seeing a lot of it over the next lil while.) Anyway, I stamped the mom & little girl and then the dad & little boy, but purposely neglected to stamp his hair so I could try and turn him into a little girl too to represent the two sisters. And I think that honestly, I did all right. Unfortunately neither of the girls has curly hair, but hey, creative license. The DSP is by My Mind's Eye (Tickled Pink), and the rest is SU. Inside I stamped "Children reinvent your world for you" from a MFT set, and then wrote "welcome to the world of parenthood"... perfect, no? Oh and the pennants on the paper to me say "WOOHOO!" which is of course, how excited I am for these folks.

I wanted to include a card for the girls as well, but was stumped. Then it hit me. Remember the card I made for the first SOS challenge (ribbon)? When I was making it, I kept thinking "door mat".. so I had stamped "welcome home"... and it's all green and pink & orange (perfect girly colors), so I think I will include this card with their goodies.

A challenge-ing card.. (SOS #2)

2011-06-01T21:16:00.002-03:00

this week's challenge over at SOS is to use your oldest stamp/digi image.

The first stamps I can remember buying* were for our wedding invitations, some 7 years ago now. There was kind of a seashell theme (Chelle, shell, hah)... Here is the stamp on the invitation (sorry about the fuzzy...). These invitations were also my first experience heat embossing and i've been in LURVE ever since. I still have that lovely pearly EP too. I heart it.

Anyway. I decided to stick with the wedding-ish theme for my challenge card. I must've embossed the shells about a hundred squillion times last night... irridescent, pearly, silver... irridescent with bashful blue ink, iridescent with just versamarker... etc etc etc. then of course it would be off centre (natch), so ya, approximately a hundred squillion. This is what I came up with...

Just white card stock, then a bashful blue layer, sponged around the edges, and a smaller piece of white with the embossed image (bashful blue ink, iridescent ice EP), and some bashful blue satin ribbon. But I wanted MORE SPARKLE. so I put red tape around the edges of the smallest layer, and tried adding dazzling diamonds glitter. and well, that just looked like tape with sparkly stuff on it. Wasn't right at all. So I got out the stickles, and went to TOWN. yup, 1/4" stickle border on the top layer. tee hee. I do love it though.

As with the final image though, a ton of paper was considered. First basic grey base, with BB & silver card stock mats, but I couldn't figure out how to work in the image. Then Grey, BB & DSP, nope, still didn't work. Finally, I got away from the silver THANG, and went with white & blue, and I'm happy with the final product. I just wish there wasn't a weird mark on the bottom of the card near the centre. otherwise, i'd think it's perfect for a summer sea-side wedding. And really, being in NS, those do happen. Inside I stamped congratulations (from a SAB set, I think) in the same blue/EP combo.

*I have stamps my mom gave me that she didn't use anymore, but they're soooo not my style. this is the first that I remember buying, so I'm using that interpretation for the challenge.

First SOS challenge & a couple shout-outs

2011-05-27T22:36:00.005-03:00

Well, first the shout-outs. Back when SOS was announced, they did a Design Team (DT) call... and TWO of my uber-crafty tweeps were chosen to be on the DT! Yay! Give Leslie (The Crooked Stamper) & Lisa (PaperGrace Designs) some love!!THEN.. a few days after the SOS DT was announced, it was announced that another uber-crafty tweep of mine had been chosen to be on the Clearsnap DT! Yay! On top of that, this gal was recently crowned one of the 2011 Stamping Royalty Winners. (how cool is THAT??) Give MaryDawn (My Pink Mexico) some lurve too!

Moving right along. So my lurvely friends on the SOS DT chose ribbon as the focus of hte first challenge. Hmm, ribbon. Nope, don't have much of that.. I mean, it only lines the walls of my cave, half my desktop, and a drawer in my paper holder thing. see? there's a bit of overlap in the first two shots, but that's about 8 feet of ribbon on top row, a plethora of SU ribbon holders & a bin of ribbon on the desk, and another 4 feet of ribbon on the bottom row. And then there's the drawer. So ya, ribbon? I've got it.

The idea behind challenge 1 is to use either the oldest ribbon, or what you have the most of. I'm not sure what hte oldest ribbon I have is, but I know that the pack I used is definitely one of the oldest I have... I didn't take a pic of it before hand, but at one point, the card held six BRIGHT colors of grosgrain ribbon - yellow, green, pink, turquoise, orange & purple. The turquoise & yellow had been used already, but the other four still remained. I decided to weave the pink, orange & green which are quite close to the SU colors of Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango & Wild Wasabi, and attached the woven piece to a Wild Wasabi cardbase. Then I was stumped. The only thing I kept coming back to was a (really bright) welcome mat. So I cut a mat of melon mambo, and used my SU Movers & Shapers to cut a heart in the approximate middle. I wanted to put a bow & small sentiment on the card too, but I had used all the ribbon in those three colors, so I found a very similar orange grosgrain in my stash and used that to tie the bow around the mat. I then used my Versamarker to stamp {welcome home} from a retired set in teh corner & embossed it with the SU Wild Wasabi embossing powder. Et voilà!

I know it's not my greatest card ever, but it's kinda growing on me. It's a bit plain, but with all the color, I don't know I'd want it much busier, y'know? I think I'll write "home is where the heart is" on the inside, and it will go to the next person who buys a new place.

So there. I've played along. Hopefully I can keep up with the challenges from here on!

Congratulations!

2011-05-27T16:39:00.003-03:00

Wednesday night, one of my friends on twitter was asking if anyone local made greeting cards, as she was looking for something very specific, and didn't have time to order from Etsy. I asked what it was she was looking for, as I may be able to help. She wanted deep purple, and able to hold money. Then she sent me this link, and asked if I could make something similar. I was on my way to the Cave anyway, so sure, I'd give it a shot.

After some googling (did you know a dollar bill is approx 6.25"x2.75"?) and futzing with some measurements and sentiments, I came up with this (closed):

which when opened looks like this:

I used almost a full sheet of Rich Razzleberry paper, scored from the bottom at 2", 5" and 8". The bottom section folds up to make a pocket (sides sealed with red tape) and perfectly fits a dollar bill of your choosing. The "middle" section (really inches 5-8) has shimmery white card stock matted on it for writing, and then the top flap is plain, save for the heart I punched out of velcro for secure closing. (the other half of the velcro is on hte back of hte money pocket).

I was pretty pleased with how everything turned out, so I thought I'd attempt a custom envelope to go with the custom card. I pulled out the handy MS score-board, and after a few attempts, got a pretty nice envelope (white shimmer paper) to go with the card. I stuck some double sided tape on a scrap of the silver paper, and punched a heart out of it, and stuck it to the top of the envelope flap. When the waxy paper comes off the tape, it will be a perfect little closure for the envelope... see? Thoughts on the finished product?

We have a winner!!

2011-05-08T20:38:00.001-03:00

I asked Sue to pick a number from the comments left on my FRED post below, and she picked #10.

Comment #10 was from GAIL!

Yay Gail! Drop me an email, and I"ll send your goodies out this week!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T07:00:00.001-03:00

My first as a Mom (awwwww).

I made these cards (almost direct CASE from Leslie...) for our moms, and just love them. It was umm, 'interesting' to get the proportions right for the quilt bits, but a bit of futzing and it worked out in the end. I love the effect created by putting the entire white layer (with quilt bits) in the Square Lattice embossing folder.

A bit of white embossing and not-quite-white sheer ribbon, and voilà!

items for sale...

2011-05-04T21:48:00.004-03:00

I went through my stamps on Monday, and have come up with the following list... honestly, I just want to clean out the cave a bit. make me an offer if you're interested in anything... I've put prices besides a few things, but really, just make me an offer...

You can check the stamp sets on Splitcoast Stampers...

Wood Mount:
Good Neighbors (wooden, NUM - SAB 2010) $5
Whoo's your Valentine (NUM)
Love you Much (GUC)
Three Little Words (EUC)
Bitty Birthday (Mounted, never stamped) $5
Birthday Bliss (Mounted, never stamped) $5
Goody Goody Gumdrops - EUC
Best of Bunch Mini Note Kit - NUM $3
Take your Place Mini Note Kit - NUM $3
A little Something (EUC)
Polka Dot Punches (EUC)
Say it with scallops (GUC)
Things I love (NUM)
Priceless - EUC
Baroque Motifs - EUC
Inspired by Nature - GUC
Crazy for Cupcakes - EUC
Stem Sayings - EUC
One of a Kind - EUC
Sweet Stems - some staining
Upsy Daisy - EUC
Retired 2-step set demo set from Supply List (NUM). Can't remember name ATM.

Clear:
Eggcoutrements
Watercolor Trio

edited to take sold items off list, May 17

FRED - a progressive card blog hop (and blog candy)

2011-05-04T08:00:00.004-03:00

Fred? Fred the Blog Hop? If this is the first you're hearing of this term, it's a newly coined acronym that stands for Friends Rock Every Day (thanks Dreena!)

The blog hop is a short one, only 9 blogs total. If you haven't come here from Lisa's, then I suggest you start from the beginning and go see Lydia at Understand Blue and check out how Fred has progressed (and why we did this in the first place).

This is the card I received from Lisa... so pretty, and yet I needed to add something AND leave room for two others to do the same. I had a pretty short time frame to do this in too, as time in my craft cave is definitely limited these days...

What could I add to a sympathy card that was simple, and fit in with the rest of the card? i started looking at my (piles of) stamps, and at some "spare parts" and saw a butterfly. And it was just 'right'. Of course, it was entirely the wrong color, but that's easily fixed. I pulled out the Great Friend stamp set, and stamped the butterfly in versamark on Pretty in Pink, and then embossed it with ~~Iridescent Ice~~ pearlescent (non-SU) embossing powder. Et voilà! I used stampin' dimensionals to make it look like the wings were flying, signed the inside & back and then packed it up to send out.

I send the card on to Dreena, whose blog is the next stop on this Fred blog hop!

To recap: Blog stops are:
1) Lydia Fielder
2) Dana Keith
3) Mary Dawn Quirindongo
4) Leslie Hanna
5) Lisa Adametz
6) ME!
7) Dreena Guptill
8) Tara Liddicoat
9) Sue Farrant - Fred's home. Not an official blog stop, but she's written a post about Fred anyway, so we'll count it here :)

And I said there'd be blog candy too, right? Well how about this. Leave me a comment telling me whose element on the progressive card to this point has been your favorite and why.Winner will be picked at random from all received, and will win some MSCrafts 12x12 paper packs (the ones in this pic... none have been opened yet), the Stampin' Up Elegant Lines embossing folder (I found an extra in the cave. OOPS!) and some yet-to-be-determined ribbon. because lordy. this girl has enough ribbon to wrap up the world.

ETA: any comments posted before Saturday at midnight ADT (11:00pm Saturday, EST) will be eligible for bpig candy. Winner will be drawn Sunday(-ish... i do have a small child at home, y'know. time kind of escapes me sometimes...)

New Challenge Blog...

2011-05-01T20:01:00.000-03:00

I noticed Leslie's post today about a new blog, so I checked it out, and what a fab idea. Shopping our Stash is a weekly challenge blog that challenges us ~~hoarders~~ stampers to use what we've been 'saving for the right moment' and use it to make the fabu cards we've been waiting for! And to celebrate, they're giving away BLOG CANDY! some 6x6 Basic Grey paper, stamps, etc. You can see details in this post.

Also, as of today, I am no longer a Stampin' Up! demo... I let my demoship lapse, because I couldn't keep up with quarterly minimums, etc, especially where I'm my best customer. Plus, in the last year, so much has gone on, that I haven't been able to devote any time to the business. or crafting in general. So I just spent some time going through my stamps & Big Shot stuff deciding what to weed out/put up for sale. if there's a stamp set or something you're looking for - let me know! A list will be posted shortly, I have a few people to contact first. But this blog/challenge comes at a good time for me. I have a bunch of sets that haven't seen ink in ages that I want to keep, and a sh!t-ton of paper (card stock & DSP), so might as well use 'em...

So go, check out SOS & keep your eyes peeled for my stamp sale list... coming up soon.

two cards, similar but different...

2011-04-30T22:02:00.001-03:00

I had a friend mention she needed some sympathy cards earlier this week, so I offered to make up a few for her. She loves the ginko flowers from the Kind & Caring Thoughts set (retired, but a HUGE fave). Wanted them in blues, and "similar, but not the same..." hmmm. dilemma. I usually make the same card with this set. Hey, it's nice & versatile.(see - thinking of you, best wishes, sympathy card) But I'll try.

So, I stamped the image first, then found some paper, and came up with these cards...

They're Marina Mist & Bashful Blue, both with Marina Mist scalloped ovals for the sentiment. Would you believe I don't have a "With Sympathy"stamp? Must rectify that (unfortunately). I love the split image on the right, but overall love love LOVE the card on teh left. I think I succeeded in making them similar but different enough. Thoughts?

A commissioned card - final version #2

2011-04-30T13:27:00.006-03:00

So when I posted the card on Wed. night, I said I was happy with it, yadda, but at some point today, I got to thinking about changing it up (again), as I wasn't really happy with the scroll message. Like the scrolls themselves, but something was nagging.

I decided to separate the two banners & just write ONE & MILLION in them, and writing the rest right on the card (top says you're one in a million). This meant another card face, and more cutting, but meh, worth it in the end (I hoped)...

Lo & behold, much nicer. Leslie ~~pointed out~~ suggested I should've used white gel pen on the PP cardstock instead of chocolate brown sparkle marker, but it was too late. I dunno tho, I think it worked. Thoughts?

Oh, and because I hadn't spent enough time on this (freebie) project, I made another bird out of shimmer paper, and cut her name out, and xyron'd 'em and attached to the envelope. Now it all just ties together. Voilà!

Also? When you are trying to blog at 130 or whatever in the morning, on your phone & you're exhausted, spelling is atrocious. Just sayin...

A commissioned card...

2011-04-27T23:49:00.001-03:00

One of the ladies at work is retiring, and my old manager asked me to make a card for her. Fine, no prob.

Then he told me he'd like it based on this coin. Oh. Okay. That makes things a bit more difficult, but whatever.

I knew that I wanted to use Lawn Fawn's Bannerific set, but after that, I had no sweet clue how I'd incorporate the elements of the coin onto a card. A big card too (5.5 x 8.5).

After much consultation on Twitter tonight with the fab Leslie (@crookedstamper), and many many prototypes, I came up with this. And honestly, I'm happy with it. it's not my favorite card by any stretch, but it's DONE, and I don't hate it. Win Win.

See? Not horrid. (and if you think it's horrid, pls don't tell me. i've expended enough energy on this card)

As you can see from the pic, I also decided to go all out and make a matching envelope. Except I didn't realize what a PITA making an envelope for a HUGE card was. Even with my fancy MS scoring tool (a 'score' (hee) at Michael's one day for $15), it was still a PITA. Ah well. now I know.

Oh, also a PITA? Using my circle cutter. Although the circles did work out in the end, I scrapped a LOT of paper in the process. So glad I'm selling the effer this weekend :P

So there you have it. I have made it in to the craft room, and lived to tell. There's another post scheduled for Monday... see you then!

FTR, the card is a Very Vanilla base, with Pacific Point mat. The scallop and smallest circle are some metallic platinum-y paper I had, and the middle circle is PP. The bird is VV, and branch is Old Olive DSP.The envelope is made of a single sheet of PP DSP . Bird & branch are the SU punch...

I'm alive!

2011-03-10T01:17:00.000-04:00

And i actually made a card tonight!

The curse of the cardmaker...

2010-12-21T21:51:00.002-04:00

I am a cardmaker, not really a scrapbooker (although I *have* done two pages in my entire life, TYVM). I don't make cards to sell, but I make cards as events & occassions arise, so that the people in my life can have something handmade, from me, to know that they're special. I will pop a card in with a gift, or just send it on it's merry way (sometimes even on time!)... But this seems to be rare among cardmakers - at least the getting them in the mail part.

Way back in the beginning of October, when my friend S's birthday was approaching (Oct 31), I thought I'd get ahead of the game and make her card & write it and send it, because October was going to be a hectic month. After all, I'd bought a stamp set just for the perfect image for her card, and now I must put ink to paper and make it so! So in a fit of craftiness one afternoon, I made up 3 or 4 cards, including S's.

Last week, when I was giving hte cave the good cleaning it deserved, guess what I found? yup, S's card... It's 2.5 months past her birthday, so too late to send now.. I feel horrible... October was chaotic, but still... I am a sucky, sucky friend... And that it seems, is the curse of a cardmaker. Not to be a craptastic friend, but to make cards intended for people, and never quite have them reach the destination.

And, because who knows when the next time I'll get around to posting, here a few more cards I've made.. 8 each of hte onesie cards as thank yous for my work baby shower, the silver/blue card was for my parents to thank them for the stroller they bought for us, and the blue/brown card is for a couple who did IVF at hte same time as us, whose twins were born almost a month ago, at 29w6d..

Oh baby!!

2010-11-27T22:27:00.003-04:00

There's a lot going on around the Hanwayink household lately, the most major of which is that there's going to be a baby Hanwayink come early in the New Year (EDD Feb 1). This is one of the reasons I haven't posted much lately... my stampy time & budget has been taken over by baby prep.

I have been crafting a bit lately though, never fear. Mostly baby related, but that's just what seems to be going on with oh, EVERYONE these days. or so it seems, at least.

First up, the favors & thank you cards from my baby shower... I have a slight obsession with cows & cow-related stuff, hence the cow paper & milk carton (which I filled with yummy blue jellybeans that matched the tempting turquoise paper). A special shout out to my tweep, depmodegal (aka Stephanie of Dawson Designs) for sourcing the paper for me in OREGON (pretty damn far from NS!), and sending it out.

Next up are some of the new baby cards I've made for friends over the past few months. The blue & brown card was for friends who had another little boy ... (so many boys around here... including ours!), while the pink & green was originally made for one of J's coworkers, but he ended up not wanting to give them a card (??) so I used it for friends who adopted a baby girl earlier this month. As you can see, I'm LOVING this baby bundle set.. the buggy especially. SO. Damn. Cute! (the poem on the shower TY is also from that set).

This is the thank you card I made for J's parents, who gave us money to buy the dresser for baby Hanwayink's room. I have to give huge props to Lynn Pratt of Stamp-n-Design for the dresser idea. I modified her dresser to mimic the one that we bought for baby (like this, but in espresso finish). And ya, the baby's bedroom walls are a lovely bright green, so I figured this worked :)

So that's what I've been up to, crafty-wise lately. Thank you cards x 30 (so far - I have at least one more shower to go!), milk carton favors x 20, and a bunch of special babies coming into this world have kept me busy. Apparently there's another major card season coming up of which I haven't even given any thought. Ay Carumba!

Holy blog candy, Batman!!

2010-09-23T14:55:00.000-03:00

Check this out!! how would you like to win all this crafty goodness??

Well check out Green Goddess Creations for details on her blogaversary blog candy!! You have another week to enter, so what are you waiting for - get on it already!!

For sale!

2010-08-05T12:36:00.000-03:00

IN going through my stamp room lately, I've developed a list of stamps that I really don't use, some of which haven't even been mounted or ever seen ink. I've added links to the gallery on SCS so you can check out what the set looks like if you're not familiar.

Hostess/demo (most barely used; $7 unless noted otherwise)

Goody Goody Gumdrops ($15)
Holiday Best
A little something
wings of friendship
polka dot punches
love bug
Asian Artistry
Perfect Match ($15 - all two step images. cute, but never even mounted)

other sets ($10 unless noted)
8 great greetings
Sweet Stems ($5)
One of a Kind
Celebrations ($3 - single stamp)
fun flower ($3 - single stamp)
Think Happy THoughts
Garden Whimsy
Happy Everything (some staining - $5)
Holiday Blitz ($15)
Bitty Birthday
Whoo's your valentine (NUM)
Animal Crackers
Very Thankful
Say it with Scallops

Let me know if you're interested in anything! I can take paypal or EMT (preferred). Also, don't forget about the ribbon share that's still open (and lots of spots available).

Ribbon share?!?

2010-07-26T11:38:00.002-03:00

So, by now you should have had a chance to check out the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalog. Did you notice all the great new ribbon?? I can't wait to get my hands on it! but there's just so much, and I know i won't use it all... eventually, the ribbon will just be added to the great void of ribbon that is vying to take over my stampy space in the Craft Cave. The perfect solution for this is a ribbon share!

There will be a number of shares... (thanks to Leslie, the Crooked Stamper, for the breakdown of ribbon share options ;)) The first set of details (bolded) is if 5 people sign up, the second set of details (red bolded) is with only 4 signed up. I will let you know when the block is complete how much your total will be. Only sign up for what you want - by no means do you have to sign up for them all!

1. 1/2" stitched grosgrain (In Colors) (3 yds, 5 colors) $13 (approx 3.5y, 5 col, $16)
2. 1 1/4" striped grosgrain (2 yds, 11 colors) $30 (2.5y, 11 col, $37)
3. 5/8" satin (3 yds, 13 colors) $32 (approx 3.5y, 13 col $40)
4. Just the new satin colors (3 yds, 6 colors) $15 (approx 3.5y, 6 col $19)
5. 1/4" grosgrain (3 yds, 13 colors) $18 (approx 3.5y, 13 col, $22)
6. Just the new 1/4" grosgrain colors (3 yds, 4 colors) $5 (approx 3.5y, 4 col, $7)
7. 1/8" taffeta (2 yds, 13 colors) $22 (2.5y, 13 col, $27)
8. 5/8" grosgrain (3 yds, 13 colors) $25 (approx 3.5y, 13 col, $31)
9. Just the new 5/8" grosgrain colors (3 yds, 8 colors) $16 (approx 3.5y, 8 col, $19)
10. 3/8" taffeta (2 yds, 13 colors) $25 (2.5y, 13 col, $31)
11. Just the new taffeta colors (2 yds, 10 colors) $19 (2.5y, 10 col, $24)

I will cover tax & shipping (because I'm just that nice, y'all). If you're a Stampin' UP! demo who would like in on the ribbon share, your portion will be appropriately discounted (20%). If you have any questions about the ribbon share, please contact me by leaving a comment or by email at chelle @ hanwayink dot com. I would like to put the order for the ribbon share in by August 6/10.

Happy Birthday Mariam!

2010-07-15T23:05:00.001-03:00

Happy Birthday @MariamMKobras! Just for you, a nice chocolatey cake, and some pretty (Sparkly!) flowers. I didn't know how to send them to you all the way in Germany, so figured a quick card representing the cake & fleurs would be in everyone's best interests :D

Although you don't even realize it, it was making a quick card like this that I quite like that might just push my butt back into the Craft Cave. So thank you, Mariam! I hope you have a fabulous birthday, and I'll be thinking of you!

Happy Catalog - er Canada! - Day!

2010-07-01T22:20:00.000-03:00

Happy Canada Day! Today is also the Catalog Launch day for the new 2010-11 Definitely Decorative & Idea Book & Catalogs. I have linked up the catalogs in the sidebar if you'd like to see them, along with the Summer Mini, which is current until the end of August. My catties still haven't come in (my bad), but they're on their way, honest!

The new books are filled with a ton of good stuff - check 'em out and email me with any questions or orders. Don't forget you can also order online 24/7 if you're so interested - just click SHOP NOW in the top right hand corner!

IF you've been thinking of becoming a demo, you can get either the standard Starter Kit or the Digital+ Starter Kit for only $215! Both kits contain over $375 worth of materials and are completely customizable! If you were a demo in the past and are wanting to get back into it, you can do so by purchasing the Rejoin Starter Kit for only $45. This kit includes updated business basics, no supplies, to keep the price low.

That's all for me (for now!) - drop me a line at chelle at hanwayink dot com or leave a comment if you've got any questions.

Free shipping & No Tax!

2010-06-19T11:43:00.000-03:00

Yup, you read it right - I'm offering my wonderful customers free shipping & no tax on all SU orders until midnight AST June 29, 2010. This is a great chance to check out the last-chance lists, or the clearance bin - the price you see will be the price you pay! If you would like to place an order, just send me an email and I will cover your tax & shipping when I enter the order.

My shipment of IB&C will be in shortly - if you'd like me to send you a copy of the new book for 2010-11, please let me know. I'm selling these babies for $5 just to cover costs & shipping. The list price is $10+, so it's a deal. If you book a workshop or catalog party, I'll waive the $5 fee!

Last chance lists are here!

2010-06-07T20:10:00.000-03:00

Before I get to the last chance lists, I would like to offer you a chance to become a Stampin' UP! demo for only $119! that's right, a chance to be a demo & get all the wonderful perks associated with being a SU demo. This is a If you'd like more information on this opportunity, please email me at chelle at hanwayink dot com.

As Stampin' UP! starts the transition to a new catalog year, they have released their list of 'last-chance' items. These are stamps, ribbon & embellishments, definitely decorative items that did not make it into the new catalog. For the most part, they have been retired & replaced with newer, fresher items. Add to this the color renovation items (card stock, inks, etc) and the lists are quite long.

I've rounded up the lists for you...

Last-chance stamps
Last-chance definitely decorative
Last-chance accessories - up to 50% off!
Clearance Rack - items up to 60%

Color Renovation - an update

2010-05-12T01:20:00.000-03:00

So, due to the announcement of SU's Color Renovation, current supplies of retiring color items (paper & reinkers specifically) have been selling like HOTCAKES. (mmmm, hotcakes). Here's what they're doing to best remedy the situation...
Re-inkers: For the remainder of May, any orders that can't be filled will be put on backorder, and filled as quickly as possible from those. Once June comes, once the supplies are gone, that's it.
Paper: I'll just quote directly from SU, because it's a bit more complex than the reinker strategy...

To help us be able to provide you with the card stock in the retiring colours for as long as possible, we will be substituting textured paper for some of the smooth colours--including card stock in 8-1/2" x 11" as well as 12" x 12"--where the smooth is no longer available. You will notice these colours go on backorder, and we will be filling as many of those as possible with textured card stock. Because the demand for each colour varies, we are unable to provide a list of what colours of card stock will be substituted with textured, or at what point that will happen. However, if you receive a package of card stock that is textured instead of smooth, there will be a sticker on the package indicating that change. There will be no change in item code or price for these substitutions.

So there you have it.. Fallen in love with a color that will be retiring? Better order soon so you can get your refills before they're no longer available! If you want to place an order, either email me at chelle at hanwayink dot com, or check out my24/7 online ordering site.

SU Color Renovation

2010-04-11T15:49:00.002-03:00

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT SOME GREAT (non-SU) ITEMS FOR SALE!

On Tuesday, Stampin' UP announced to their demos that the color families have been totally renovated for the new catty. It won't just be In Colors changing, but a total shakeup of colors, a color RENOVATION if you must (and they have ;)).

Here is a chart of the 40 colors in the 4 color families... some shuffling, some reintroduction of former In Colors (yay for bringing back baja breeze & pink pirouette from last year, and keeping razzleberry & melon from TY! I just wish I hadn't sold most of my 2008-09 in color stuff!), and 5 new base colors.

I'm going to miss some (cameo coral! close to cocoa!), but the In Colors will now last for 2 years, and 5 will be released/retired each year. So after this year, there will always be 50 colors. 40 core, and 2 sets of 5 In Colors. Swatches of the 5 In Color colors for 2010-11 have not been released... I'll keep you posted though.

Here is a chart with the retiring colors - remember, all cardstock/ribbon/ink/markers of these colors will only be available until June 30, 2010, so if there's any color you absolutely LOVE that is on this chart, you can order from my online ordering site 24/7 ;) Make sure you check out the clearance rack - some great deals in there, and some stuff in colors that WERE retired that are coming back. Nothing like getting a head start on accessories to match some of the new colors!

Stuff for sale!!

2010-04-10T17:04:00.006-03:00

I've been trying to clean up the craft cave a bit, and have come up with a list of non-SU stamp sets I'd like to clear out to make room for some new crafty goods.

Most are from My Favorite Things. Which ARE some of my favorite things, but I just don't use them. None have been used, most are NIP.Prices for stamps include shipping, otherwise shipping will be added. I prefer paypal, or EMT for those in Canada (mhanway at gmail dot com).

Here goes..
MFT - Pure Innocence Line ($5/ea - all SOLD)
~~Presents for You~~
~~Heart Stripes~~
~~Fairy Girl~~
~~Merry Kissmas~~

MFT - Who's that Girl Line ($8 ea)
~~Let's Picnic~~ -SOLD
Here's the Scoop
Coffee? Tea?
~~Maid for WTG~~ sold!
~~Rain or Shine~~ - SOLD

MFT - other
In the Background - $5 NIP
Love Bot (no packaging, but never used - $5 obo) -
~~You warm my Heart (no packaging, but never used~~ - $5 obo) SOLD
~~Love Birds (no packaging, but never used - $5 obo)~~SOLD
Cool Yule (no packaging, but never used - $5 obo)

Our Craft Lounge Pat the Good Dog - crafty cling New, no pkg $8 obo
A-Muse Artstamps Animal Wishes - NIP $8 obo

Papertrey Ink ($2 ea)
Mazel Tov Additions - NIP
Favor it Baby - NIP

Not stamps...
Versacolor pad #18 Royal - NIP $3
DewDrops NIP - $1 ea - Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, Grape Jelly, Lilac Posies
Color Box Pigment Pads - $1 ea Copper, Frost White (opened, barely used)
~~Pearlescent Watercolors 16 color pad - NIP $2~~ SOLD!

In addition, anything in THIS POST that isn't marked sold is still available.

PHEW. There's the list. Let me know if you're interested in anything. I'll get back to you as soon as i can!

eeek! how cute is this?

2010-03-31T07:00:00.001-03:00

One of my customers contacted me yesterday asking for a baptism card for a little girl... not too 'Hallmark', etc. This is what I came up with, after a bit of surfin on SCS...

cute, no? The pattern & idea came from Lynn Pratt's blog - you must check it out. She's got a TON of excellent cards there. Thanks Lynn!

Sale-a-bration - two days left!

2010-03-30T09:34:00.000-03:00

That's today and tomorrow!

If there is anything you'd like to order before the sale-a-bration promotion ends, please contact me at chelle at hanwayink dot com or check out my online ordering site - http:/hanwayink.stampinup.net Remember, with ever $65 in product ordered, you are eligible for FREE product.

Two posts in two days...

2010-03-28T23:43:00.003-03:00

I'm as shocked as you are - trust me :P

I've been working away this weekend, trying to finish off more cards for my friends at Clippopotamus.. while I was at it, I remembered Dreena's I want candy - enjoy the little things color challenge, and decided to try and work it into the clippo cards. Well check 'em out... clippo cards in the purty pastelly color challenge colors! The DSP is from the Sweet Pea pack, and has apricot, sage, pink, white, amethyst, etc in it. It's actually background to a diff picture, but it worked for these cards.I think the apricot based card actually uses all the colors from the challenge, as i used barely banana ribbon instead of the saffron. Yay me!

Also for Clippo, I made some of each of the following...

I think I found my mojo!

2010-03-27T23:00:00.005-03:00

I made *FIVE* cards last night. FIVE! I think the key was using new sets. First I made a few cards using a set from a new Stampy company founded by one of the girls I've met through twitter. I won LawnFawn's "Critters in the Burbs" set at hte beginning of the month, and it finally arrived this week (don't get me started on the postal system...). Unfortunately I've had some friends lose beloved pets in the last few weeks, so used it for a not-so-happy reason - pet sympathy cards. Hard cards to make, but this is what I came up with... Love the tree stamp, and the cat & dog are super cute. I used some of the SAB paper for the top of the tree, and sponged a bit of ink in the tree before I put down the paper pierced 'leaves'. The stamps are clear polymer stamps,a nd they're FABULOUS quality. I really liked how they stamped. way to go, Kelly Marie!!

Then I moved on to make a few baby cards using Fox & Friends ($24.95w/$19.95c in the Occasions Mini). This is a card for a family that just had 2 baby boys... I put the owl there to represent their big brother, and wrote in the "whooo" speech bubble. Inside it says "...are these two cute little monkeys??" tee hee. I slay me.

Then a couple more baby cards, for some babes born earlier this month - a boy & a girl. The cards are essentially the same, I just flipped colors for the base & mat depending on boy or girl. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I cannot believe that I have had this stamp set for a while now and finally inked it up last night. My bad for sure. Many more plans to use this set in the future.

I still have a long list of cards to make, hopefully I'll get to finish off another 'chunk' of cards tomorrow.

Blog Candy, anyone?

2010-03-25T10:28:00.000-03:00

Check it out! The amazing Kerin Sylvester has recently surpassed 300,000 hits on her great blog - Stamps, Paper, Glitter, and she's celebrating by giving away some great SU product (and chocolate!). Check out her blog by clicking on the link above and good luck!

Black: a color meme (also: a work in progress)

2010-03-20T22:39:00.002-03:00

A cool stamper I follow on Twitter, @CrookedStamper, posted a meme on her blog and I commented, so I get to do one now.

Comment on this entry if you want to play along and I will give you a color, or just pick a color and go with it - I won't tell anyone. I'm supposed to list ten things that I like/love that are my assigned color, and Leslie gave me orange. Black. Umm, Okay, ten things I like/love that are black:

1. my friend's doggies (can this count as 2, JIC?)
2. my well-worn Merrell Mary Janes
3. my iPhone
4. good black felt-tip markers like Sharpies. Not the gross big huge ones we'd sniff growing up :P
5. black mica (biotite is the actual name for black mica, but I prefer black mica)
6. obsidian
7. black pearls & jewelry with such pretties in them...
8.
9.
10.

Ok, so I'm having some problems coming up with other items. I am not much of a fan of black licorice/jelly beans/gumdrops/candy in general, and everything else i can think of is dark brown. I'll update as I think of stuff.... honestly, it would be easier to think of 10 things I don't like that are black... and maybe I'll do that in another post :P

Join my team!

2010-03-01T22:32:00.000-04:00

Want a free stamp set? Love to stamp? Want to earn at least a 20% discount on all your favorite SU items? Want a special Thank You gift from me?? If you've answered YES to any of these questions, then you should think about joining my SU team - CC Stampers. We're a group of stampers from across Canada (Cross Canada, also CC, my mascot) and would love for YOU to join our team.

March is a great time to join the SU family - our starter kit & the digital+ starter kit are both 15% off until the end of the month.PLUS, when you join during SAB, you earn a FREE stamp set from the 2009-10 IB&C (up to $63.95 value).

Starter Kit	Regular Price	Sale-A-Bration Price (15% off)
Standard Starter Kit	$269	$225
Digital+ Starter Kit	$239	$199

If you have any questions about joining SU, please email me at chelle at hanwayink dot com, and I'll answer them as soon as possible. To join SU, check out my DBWS and click "Start your own Business" in the menu bar. The password to join is winnipeg.

Recent pics...

2010-02-23T22:11:00.010-04:00

I've been kinda slack in the blog department lately, and I apologize. I've been sick, and there's some other stuff going on right now I can't really get into on here. Nothing bad, just time consuming :) I have found a bit of time to stamp though, here and there.

First I had to finish off some swaps that I had outstanding... and I can't show most of them due to SU rules :( But I can show you this lovely I made last night for a swap, using a favorite stamp set that recently retired - Font of You. Poor thing debuted in teh Spring 2009 SU IB&C, and went dormant in the 2009-10 one, retired Jan 4/10. BOOO. Hopefully that means there's a new fonty set coming out in the 2010-11 catty. A girl can dream, right?
Then there were a number of cards that the receptionist at my acupuncture clinic ordered. Most were CASEs of previous cards, but she requested one I had sold the stamp set for (duh duh duh) so I had to come up with something along the same lines... and I LOVE what I ended up with. Enter, Sock Monkey & his twin brother & sister :)

Let's see, what else have I made lately?? hmm... I posted the PTI celebration cards I made... oh yes, my February workshop items! There was this Valentine's treat cup slider (based on Heather's card) that almost gave me a coronary because my stupid Heart punch doesn't want to always work properly (which, combined with PMS was naaaaaaaasty. My poor hubby....) and a cute SAB-inspired birthday card. Love using 'free-to-me' items!

I had promised to contribute something crafty to the Easter raffle basket at work, and so decided to CASE Kerin Sylvester's great card using the Eggcoutrements set from the current Mini... Such a cute set. And there's a Chick stamp! Yay! Isn't the card cute?? I ended up making a pack of 6 of them, and putting them & envelopes in a cello bag tied with some leftover ribbon from last year's SAB. They looked pretty cute & were a huge hit at work...

This Kraft one on the left was for a downline member of mine who had to have surgery last week... I love the white embossing for a change, and the little bouquet I put on the inside & watercolored with my blender pen. Love that look...

The bluey card uses the kaliedoscope DSP and Bermuda Bay CS & ribbon - LOVE the combo. That DSP just in general (Kaleidoscope by SU) is my current favorite. Love the bright colors. Buy some. it's awesome. Trust me :D

The last card is for a friend who just found out she's expecting her 2nd lil one.. I needed a quick card,but liked how it came together. Gotta love the Top Note die...

SHOP SU 24/7!!

PTI anniversary - day 7

2010-02-08T23:34:00.000-04:00

ok, so I do things backwards :P

I was able to get two cards made tonight - one for the day 8 challenge (previous post) and one for the day 7 challenge. Day 7's challenge was to use the CPS sketch for this week (sponsored by PTI)...

without further ado, here's my entry...

I had to rotate things by 90degrees, because the hearts on the pink DSP on the left would've been askew otherwise (cut the paper the wrong way :P)... then, eh, I just decided to offset things, and add a sentiment. Not my best card, but it's all right. i might go back and change a few things around, if the glue dots will let me :P I took a close up of the sentiment, because I just love it. It's from the level 1 SU hostess set Picture This (Occasions Mini) - I {heart}it.

PTI anniversary - day 8

2010-02-08T23:23:00.000-04:00

Today's challenge at PTI's {capture the moment} blog was to 'color by numbers'. A sketch was provided, along with measurements for each of the different layers. We were to use different color palettes, based on our online user name in any order, as long as all colors were represented. While it was not specified which online user name (i've got a few.... blogland, various boards I frequent, etc) we were to go by, I figured I'd use the name I have for the PTI forums. I'm pretty sure my name there is hfxchelle, but of course, i can find NO RECORD of ever creating an account there, although I remember participating in a release party. So, I went with H over C(for chelle). I was more drawn to that color palette anyway.

So, without further ado, here's the color palette I was to use...

I used SU colors Whisper White (textured), old olive, melon mambo, apricot appeal & dusty Durango.

And here's my card...

I used the new Vintage Vogue set from the Occasions Mini for both the background images (colored with apricot, and rolled in dusty durango for the edges) and the sentiment. The bow is a bit 'off' but I liked that addition with the card.

From the SU home office...

2010-02-07T08:44:00.001-04:00

Stampin′ Up! demonstrators are working hard to make a difference in the lives of those who continue to be affected by the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. In just fifteen days, demonstrators around the world have already sold 7524 of the stamp sets. From each of these sets, Stampin′ Up! will donate $2 to the Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund.

From now until February 28, 2010, $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set [sold] will be donated to the American Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

So do you have your I {Heart} Hearts set yet? If not, I've made it easy for you to click through on the links below to purchase your set (and block, if you choose clear-mount).

Product Name	Item #	Price
I {Heart} Hearts - clear-mount (block D recommended)	118571	$24.95
I {Heart} Hearts - wood-mount	117010	$35.95

Birthday Blog Candy!

2010-02-01T08:39:00.000-04:00

Not here (although sat. was my birthday...), but over at Papergrace designs! Today is Lisa's birthday (happy happy!), and there are stamps, buttons & a gift cert. to Two Peas to be won! I've linked up the blog candy post above, so just click on the link & enter to win. Good luck, and happy birthday from a fellow Aquarian!

SU supports Haitian Relief efforts

2010-01-23T13:17:00.005-04:00

As they have done in the past, Stampin' Up! has started a campaign to raise funds to help those who have been affected by the earthquakes in Haiti. By purchasing the I {heart} hearts stamp set, $2 will be donated to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund.

How much easier can we make it to do a bit of good today? You can either contact me to place an order, or visit my online shopping site. Thanks in advance for helping out!

Product Name	Item #	Price
I {Heart} Hearts – clear-mount (block D recommended)	118571	$24.95
I {Heart} Hearts – wood-mount	117010	$35.95

MDS Project!

2010-01-18T20:36:00.001-04:00

My fabulous upline, Heather, teaches a great line of "Simply..." classes. Right now, we're almost 1/2 way through her Simply My Digital Studio course. And I made a card! And it's super cute (IMO)!

What do you think??

I know the letters on the inside aren't quite lined up, but hey, each letter is a 'stamp', so i think I did ok. I guess this is why they make the stamp-a-ma-jig (which I'm not overly adept at using, either...)

Clippo cards!

2010-01-15T21:07:00.001-04:00

My friend Alexandria owns Clippopotamus - a great children's accessory line out of Pickering, ON. Back in the fall, she'd asked me to make some cards for her clippos, to sell at the Children's Trunk Sale, and I willingly obliged.

When I got the new Something Sweet set (which coordinates with the Sweet Treat cups!) I got to thinking.... 'I wonder if these will fit a clippo...' so I spoke to Alexandria, made up some prototypes, and she sent me some Clippos to try. And... partial success!

Here is a pic of a set o Tiny Ones clippos inside the treat cup portion of a baby card..

(next time I'll stamp the sentiment in brown...)

Isn't it cute?? Love that rattle, and the awesome possum sparkly brown paper too. (Sending Love Specialty Designer Paper - also in the Occasions Mini)

For Alexandria's reference, here are the Tiny Ones & Little Ones clips in the cup... Love the Tiny Ones in there - too bad the Little Ones won't work too...

CANCELED

2010-01-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

I am very sorry, but I will have to cancel the open house, as there are a few things goin on right now that won't allow me to finish preparations for the event.

Please email me if you've got any questions, or you can submit an online order using my online ordering site.

You're invited!

2010-01-07T17:43:00.001-04:00

I've decided to hold a SAB open house next weekend (Jan 17). It'll be a come & go event, from 1-4 pm, with snacks, make & takes, a door prize or two, and some other goodies you have to show up to find out about ;)

I wanted to make a poster to put up in a couple of places, so I actually made it from start to finish in MDS. I could've done it in Word or the like, but this way I got to play with stamps & gain a bit of familiarity with the program as well.

This is what I came up with... it's a bit wordy, but *shrug*

Hope to see you on the 17th!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T07:00:00.002-04:00

January's a busy time at Stampin' up! Starting today, there is a new mini catalog for you to order from, and Sale-a-Bration starts! Not familiar with Sale-a-Bration? Basically, with every $65 in product you order, you get a free item from the SAB catalog! Free product can also be earned by hosting a workshop or signing up as a Stampin' Up! demo.

For those in the Halifax Regional Municipality, I'm holding a SAB Open House on Jan 17 from 1-4. Browse the catalogs, check out MDS or our new clear mount stamps, have some snacks, do a make & take! There will also be retired product & kits from previous workshops available for purchase (purchases do not count towards SAB, sorry!)

If you need details or directions, please email me, or check out the Facebook Event. Hope to see you then!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T22:27:00.001-04:00

Happy belated holidays from Hanway, Ink!

Goodness, where has the time gone? Sorry for not posting much lately, things have been chaotic - I was visiting my family for a week over Christmas, and had to get all the normal holiday-rush stuff done a bit early, hence the lack of posting.

I will leave you with a holiday card I made for a friend & co-worker. simple, but incorporated a new set (sock monkey), a fun technique (kissing!), and a favorite set (Good Friend)..

Check back tomorrow - Sale-a-bration starts!! wheeee! Your chance to earn free product starts tomorrow and ends Mar 31!

My Christmas gift to you...

2009-12-24T12:54:00.005-04:00

This will stay at the top until Dec 24. Please scroll down for new posts :)

My Christmas gift to you, dear readers - FREE SHIPPING! That's right, from Dec 6 - 24, 2009, get free shipping on all SU orders over $100 (before tax). Please email me at chelle at hanwayink dot com to place your order. If you place your order directly on my online shopping site, I will give you a credit on your next order (to be used by April 30/10). This offer is for Canadians only, and is something that I am doing for you - other demos are not offering this special that I am aware of.

Here is SU's policy on Holiday Shipping fyi...

We recommend that you place your holiday orders by Tuesday, December 8, 2009, by 7:00 PM via phone or 11:50 PM via OEX (all times MT) to receive your orders before Christmas. Delivery times will vary depending on where you live; if your personal experience indicates that it takes longer for packages to reach you, you will want to allow a little extra time for shipping during the holidays.
All orders we receive by December 8 will be picked, packaged, and delivered to our courier in plenty of time to arrive by December 24. But as you know, we cannot control delivery times; holiday mail volumes are high, and our delivery services encourage customers to ship as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

12 days of Christmas SALE

2009-12-11T12:57:00.000-04:00

Stampin' Up! has announced their 12 days of Christmas sale - check out the link for savings of 15-25% on Big Shot dies & new colors of Decor Elements Vinyl.

Don't forget that I am offering free shipping on orders over $100 until December 24, so contact me to place your order, or use my online ordering tool (just click on Shop Now!), and I will give you a credit equal to your qualifying shipping amount on your next order.

New to stamping?

2009-12-09T14:36:00.000-04:00

I read a great little post on Donna's blog (Butternut Sage Designs) today about going back to basics and where to start when you get into cardmaking. It's a great post, and if you're new(ish) to stamping, or just looking for a way to revitalize your crafting, check it out. She suggests using some of the weekly card challenge websites (and lordy, there are many!) to get design or color ideas. I've found that as you get a bit more comfortable with your tools (and um, accumulate more tools...) ideas flow a bit better, and it's easier to branch out. But in the beginning, looking at a piece of paper & some stamps can be kinda intimidating in a way.

ANYWAY. enough of my rambling. Thanks again to Donna for a great article - happy stamping!

Sample Invitation...

2009-12-07T07:30:00.079-04:00

Last weekend I was at a workshop and met a new girl, C. She is in a wedding next July and fell in love with the invitation on page 48 of the catalog, and knew the Bride to Be would love it as well. After many texts flying back and forth (B2B is in Ontario), and a few emails, I agreed to make a sample to show the invitation using the wedding colors - colors very close to Handsome Hunter & Sage Shadow (my new favorite SU color, tyvm). Keeping in mind I don't have the right ribbon (yet), or the stamp set (yet), and had to use textured cardstock for the HH because I didn't have any un-textured 12x12 CS, I made a mock up to give her an idea of what the finished product may look like.

closed up (one scallop edge from the Perfect Setting BS die holds the RSVP pouch closed). I didn't know the Bride & Groom's names, so i used an alphabet from the clearance bin to write "boy girl" and used the Sweet Season stamp for the ampersand (&).

open - pouch on the bottom holds a standard size card front for RSVP & standard envelope

closeup of invitation. I don't have the Sage Shadow stamp pad, so used my marker to give an idea. Also used Baroque Motifs for the swirl (love it!)

closeup of RSVP pouch - embossed with the Textured Impressions folder & using parts of the snowflake from Best Wishes & more for 'embellishment" around hte RSVP

I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs on the RSVP again (stamp pad will be a MUST for this) and used my little alphabet for the RSVP placement.

Final size of invitation - folded up - 7 x 6; open - 12x 6. If indeed this is what the B&G want to go with, I am going to try and play around so that they fit in a standard 5x7ish envelope. or a large square one. we'll see what they think.

ALSO: Please excuse the crappy white balance on my camera. Methinks I'll be hittin the Boxing Day sales for a new camera. mmm. new camera.

Thoughts (on invitation or camera :P) ???

The following sets will be retiring Jan 4/10...

2009-12-05T20:55:00.000-04:00

There are a number of sets on the dormant list (ie still active, but not in the catalog) that Stampin' Up! will be retiring on Jan 4/10... If you are interested in adding them to your collection before they're gone, please check out my online shopping site or drop me an email. Orders placed by Dec 8/09 should be fine for Christmas delivery.

Item Number	Stamp Set
113407	Back Woods
114492	Beautiful Baby
114486	Birthday Wish
113200	Branch Out
114496	Celebrations
113732	Central Park
113206	Classic Sketches
113226	Classy & Fabulous
114498	Flowers in Silhouette
113405	Font of You
113216	For the Bride
114494	Forever
109425	Friend by Definition
114488	Fun Flowers
113716	Garden Greetings
114490	Glad Friends
111580	Grand Soiree
113242	Hit the Road
113710	Lexicon of Leaves
113236	Man's Best Friend
114423	Ocean Commotion
113728	Playful Petals
109276	Polka Dot
111544	Putt Putt
113240	Quilt Quips
113754	Really Retro
113403	Sip by Sip
113726	Sweet Stems
113250	That's Funny
113688	Wonderful Watercolors
114028	Para la novia
114032	Acuarelas Maravillosas

PC Giftbasket giveaway!

2009-12-04T17:16:00.000-04:00

Check this out - a grocery tote full of holiday-ish items from President's Choice! Want a chance to win? Leave a comment on DaniGirl's blog and tell her what you're most looking forward to this holiday season. Contest ends Dec 7, so enter soon!

Gift card holders for sale!

2009-11-29T22:41:00.004-04:00

I held a workshop this afternoon, and there were only two attendees (had cut for four), so I got a chance to stamp with the girls while they made their gift card holders. And now? I have 6 gift card holders that I won't get a chance to use. So I'm offering them to you, dear readers. $3 ea for one of the cards below, or $4 if you want different colors, etc. Please email me or leave a comment if you're interested!

Online Extravagaaaaanza!

2009-11-23T08:26:00.002-04:00

(I'm sorry, I have to say extravagaaaaaaaaanza. It's a sickness, I know. )

Anyway, check out the great sale offerings SU has for you this week (available until Nov 30)! There are card making bundles, scrapbooking bundles, home decor bundles, punches & other crafty accessories - all kinds of crafty goodness, all 30-50% off!

Of great interest to those of you just starting out (wink wink, I'm lookin' at you, C ;)) is the Ultimate Stampers' Starter Bundle. For $102.57 (regular over $170!!), you get the following:

Best Wishes & More stamp set
Eight Great Greetings stamp set
On a Pedestal stamp set
Earth Elements Stampin' Spots
Earth Elements assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
Old Olive 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon
Flower Designer brads

This is the only bundle that is first come, first serve - no pieces can be backordered. Those stamp sets are some of my favorites too - really versatile! So order today (item 120289)! You can email me to place an order, or shop online 24/7!

Great gift idea for the little artist on your list!

2009-11-02T12:01:00.001-04:00

I saw something similar to this over at Meg Loven's blog, and well, just loved it :) Thanks again for the inspiration, Meg!

A Stampin' Up! gift basket/bucket for your little artist! This is totally customizable - you can pick the stamp wheel, ink color - add a marker or two for accent, or a coordinating stamp set. The choices are endless!

A basic selection would include the following:
-Classic stamp pad in Taken with Teal (7.95)
-Whisper White note cards & envelopes (20 for $7.95)
-Stampin around handle ($5.25)
-Stampin around wheel - Retro Remix ($7.75)

The total for these items is only $28.90 (plus s/h & tax). The Hello Again stamp set that coordinates with the wheel can be added for $16.95, and our Stampin' Write markers are just $4.50 each! You could also add the personalized pirate or princess stamp for $13.95. You can shop online or email me today with your order.

Holiday Gift Giving Guide

2009-11-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

Well, it's November. That means that Christmas will be here before you know it! And for any papercrafters on your list (or um, yourself), check out SU's Holiday Gift Giving Guide. WIth any purchase of $65 or more from this guide, you can pick your choice of a Decor Elements item (up to $22.95 value) for free!! And yes, if you purchase $130 of Gift Guide items, you can pick two DE items! This promotion is valid until January 4, but I suggest you shop now to avoid the rush.

Check it out!

2009-10-26T18:52:00.000-03:00

I am the featured artist on my friend Leilani's blog this week! I sound a bit crazy in the write up, but hey, truth hurts :D

Also... moms, check out the fourth & final deals of the week! The Pirate & Princess party kits are on sale for just $13.99 (regularly $21.99) - over 35% savings! The sale is over Saturday evening (11:50pm EST), so get your kits while you can!