Cyndy's Creative Corner

Fall Fest Samples

2011-10-09T10:54:00.005-04:00

Here are some close up samples of the projects we did at Fall Fest. This first one is using the milk carton die. This would make a great favor for a party.

This next project is using one of the clear stamp cases. We made a case to hold note cards. How cute!

Here is what the inside of the case looks like. Don't you just want to send a card now!

This is a mini album. It's about 2" square, great for a tiny brag book to carry around in your purse!

This next project uses our cork sheets and has magnets on the back so you can stick it on your frig.

This last project is great for holding a project sample you're working on or pictures.

Hope you enjoy today's samples. Tomorrow is my support group meeting and we will be working on cards for patients at the cancer center at Hackettstown Hospital. Keep a look out for those! Enjoy this wonderful sunny warm weather! See you soon.
Cyndy

Fall Fest 2011

2011-09-28T01:02:00.000-04:00

Well here are some pictures from our Fall Fest. This is our Tina "Beana" Rosenkrans. Fall Fest is our semi annual gathering where Tina's downline gather. We go over new things that may be going on and in our stamping world, better ways to run our business and the best part, we make Inkcredible projects!

Tina Rosenkrans

Here is my wonderful friend, Debbie Modrowsky, showing the double embossed, faux suede, leaves from a round punch, gathering ribbon, and coloring the silver glitter paper! WOW! Here is a sample of one of the cards she demonstrated. Isn't it beautiful?!

Here are a few of my fellow demonstrator friends that I haven't seen in a while. Linda, Debbie, Patti, me, and Cathy. (L-R)

This is my Tina. She is like my Shelli. Shelli is the co-founder of Stampin' Up! But she is the glue that holds us all together. We always have a great time when we get together.

This is a picture of some of my samples I made for my presentation. Tina asked if I would make the Advent Calendar, that is in the Holiday Mini and demonstrate how to use this fabulous new Bigz Die cut Peek A Boo.

Here is what I demonstrated. I must say I didn't come up with this card myself. I got this idea from Dawn Griffith.

This is a sample of one of the projects we did on Friday. I thought I had more pictures of the projects we did, but I seemed to forget to do that. I was so busy making them and taking pictures of some great cards and have some wonderful ideas for so many classes, I'm bursting at the seems! No not really.

September Technique Class

2011-09-25T09:20:00.002-04:00

Bat Treat

For September's Technique class. Doris had asked if we could make the bat that Shelli had posted on her site. So I had to check out this bat. I changed it a bit from what Shelli had done, but I think it turned out great. I brought this bat to our semi annual stamping event called Fall Fest and had lots of people asking how I did it. The bat is made from the Petal Cone and Pennant Parade Bigz Dies, large circle punch, spider embossing folder, 1/2" circle punch, red glitter brads, star punch, white gel pen, and smooch vanilla. We did a couple of other cards, but can't seem to get them uploaded. I'll have to try again later. Enjoy!

It Takes Two

Well here are the other two cards. On the "It Takes Two" cards I used Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, & Always Artichoke Classic ink, Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy, River Rock, & Very Vanilla cardstock. I wanted an earthy feel to the card. Hope you like it too.

Colorful Silhouttes

On this third card, I used River Rock cardstock for the base and stamped the images on Whisper White. This is a double embossed technique. I like how the black image pops off the card. I'll work on getting last month's techniques up later in the week.

2011-09-12T00:27:00.000-04:00

Here is one of my sunflowers I planted this year. I had been wanting to plant these for a couple of years and finally got to plant them this year. The flowers are huge and most of the plants are at least 7 feet high. Most of them are lining the front of my garden. This one was an extra. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get the seeds and eat them! The garden has done so well this year. I've had so many green beans. This year I did pole beans and really didn't have the support in place for them soon enough and it has been difficult to pick. I have lots that have gotten way too big and hate to rid of them, I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. The corn I planted has done very well too. The first seeds I planted didn't come up, probably because they were a year or two old (I think). I then bought some plants and they did ok, but the second batch I planted came out great! Most of the ears are like half an ear but they taste so good and sweet!

This is another great picture my daughter got of the butterflies that enjoy the echinacea out my kitchen window. I don't know how she does it, but is able to get so close without them flying away. I love butterflies. I wish we would get more variety. Watching them is so peaceful. With all the rain we've had, a lot of the plants have fallen down.

This last photo is a sample of the banner project I'll be teaching at Octoberfest next month. This is an annual event at Camp Hoover, on October 14-16. If you're an adult and would like to have a weekend away of fun, this is for you. I'll be holding two classes and there are a lot of other things to do or nothing at all. Also this Thursday is my Technique Class. We start at 7pm and do 3 techniques, usually cards, but you can use these techniques on your scrapbook pages as well.

Irene Effects & More!

2011-09-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

Well Irene is past and more hurricanes are on their way. We finally got our power back on Saturday. Seven days of no power. We did have a generator which helped a great deal, but we were very limited as to what we could have on. We also lost our phone service for three days! Once we got that back there has been a lot of static and now no phone again! This is driving me crazy! I spent at least 30 minutes trying different things to see if I could get the phones to work. Then I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Verizon and still nothing! Someone can't come out until Wednesday and then they want you to be home all day! Well at least we have internet. We had some flooding in our field and several trees came down on our fence line, but all in all we've made out much better then others. Here is a picture of my garden before the hurricane. It looks pretty much the same. We tied up the sunflowers and glad we did, they're still looking great.

July Projects

2011-08-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some cards I did in July. I didn't have a chance to post back then, so I figured I get them posted now. This first card I made for my son to take to his girlfriends grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Since I couldn't see him going with just a card, I made a "bag" using the fancy favor bigz die and the Elizabeth stamp and put chocolates in it. Everything is better with chocolate!

This next card, I made for my mil birthday. I used the greenhouse garden stamp set. I love this set. I cased this from Kathy Schweinfurth. I changed the colors around a bit. I also made this a pop up. Here's the inside.

August Technique Class

2011-08-23T17:48:00.014-04:00

Here are my samples from August technique class. We had a fun time making these. I just couldn't wait to use some the new products in the upcoming Holiday Mini (starts September 1). The first card uses the Gently Falling 2 step stamp set. We only used the outline portion of the set and daubers to color the leaf. Then used the 2-way glue and added gold glitter to the edge of the leaf. I embossed the main base of the card with the dot embossing folder and used the white gel pen to make the dots pop more. The DSP is also from this "suite". I got this idea from Erika Clark.

The next card is my spooky Halloween card. We used a brayer to color this card. We started with Whisper White cardstock. I punched a 1 3/4" circle and attched it to the card and brayered pumpkin pie ink first. After a pass or 2 with the brayer I removed the circle and had a light touch of the pumpkin pie fill in the moon. I then replaced the circle and used tango tangerine to add a bit more color. I then stamped the trees (from Lovely as a Tree), tore a piece of scratch paper and brayered basic black on the bottom. I then used the web embossing folder and embossed the spider's web onto the cardstock and then sanded the color off the raised area to let the white show through. This idea came from Charlotte Hollingsworth. These two are also Stampin' Up! demonstrators. Thanks for sharing!

This last project, seemed to just come to me. I've seen this die used similarly. I used the petal cone Bigz die. I also wanted to use the new Simply Score tool and the new big buttons worked perfectly with this project. I thought this would make a perfect table setting! To make the rosette, I started with a 1.5"x12" piece of DSP and then punched the scallop border punch on one side. I then scored every other scallop using the simply score board. Flipped it over and scored the opposite scallops. Doing this, it made it much easier to accordion fold the paper. I also used the multi purpose liquid glue to attach the ends. I also used the 1 3/4" punch to punch a piece of scrap card stock for a base and also used the same glue to attach the rosette. I layered the button on another piece of coordinating piece of cardstock. I found the multi purpose glue seemed to work the best in adhering everything. I tried the glue dots and sticky strip, but they would come apart after awhile.

Well I hope you enjoyed these projects. Maybe you'll make it to the next technique class and make the projects in person!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:30:00.005-04:00

Well I hope all the moms out there had a nice Mother's Day. I was busy this morning making my mother-in-law a card for today. I wanted to do something special and this is what I came up with (card on left). I used a retired set called Toile Blossoms. I got the idea from several different cards and combined them. The DSP was in the last mini, Occasions. I got this gorgeous card from a friend of mine for my birthday and used a few of her ideas here too.

The tissue box I made for my physical therapist. She is getting married and moving to OK. I thought this would be something she could use at the wedding or in her new home. I love the way it turned out. The directions are on splitcoaststampers.com. I lifted ideas from several different boxes and came up with this. I used Shimmery White for the base.

Well I wanted to get this post out on Mother's Day. I'll have to get a picture of the birthday card and put her blog link on the site. She does beautiful work. Cyndy

Spring has arrived!

2011-05-03T23:41:00.009-04:00

Well FINALLY! It's warm out, it's not raining all the time and I had time to work in the garden. My husband, John, has been helping and got about a third of it weeded and even planted some tomato plants and corn! Some of my asparagus came up. Maybe next year I'll be able to harvestsome. My rhubarb is really coming along well. Will be freezing a bunch of that this year.

Here are some pictures

of what I've been doing. I have some bird feeders outside my kitchen windows and Buddy enjoys watching them

eat. I'm sure he would love to be out there with them. The picture above is a box I made with the scallop envelope Bigz die. I made it for regional up in CT. I brought along some chocolate for us to nibble on while doing out projects. This fish picture is of our salt water tank. My daughter started it about a year ago and didn't stay on top of it so guess who has taken over. It is finally doing good and doesn't require the amount of work I initially had to do. It really pays to have the right equipment and stuff for the tank so it's not a whole lot of work. Well I hope to be posting again soon, but one never knows for sure! Cyndy

February Update

2011-02-24T15:41:00.003-05:00

Well, yes, it's been a long time since my last post. I feel every time I turn around, something else happens and just can't stay on top of things. December was just trying to stay on top of things with the holidays and all. We get together with my in laws a week before Christmas so that makes it even more crazy then usual. January I just couldn't take the pain in my neck and shoulder and started phyical therapy. John and I also went on a cruise for the first time in January. We left right after a snow storm. Good thing we were leaving from NY. The storm came up the coast and if we had to fly down to FL we may not have been able to land the day before! So just before we left, our dryer broke. The day we were leaving, our snow plow truck broke. When we got back the truck had been fixed but then the plow on the truck broke! Then shortly after that the microwave broke. One of my dogs also needed surgery for a tumor. He is recovering nicely and go back for a follow up next week. Hopefully the news will be good.

To top it all off John broke his ankle! Then he had to have surgery, a plate and screws put in to hold it all together. I hope we are done with anything else braking. We are now into February and the bills for this year are getting out of control with everything breaking! My neck and shoulder are still bothering me. I went to a chiroprator and got a lot of relief in my neck, but my shoulder still has pain, almost constantly, so I'm finally going to see an orthopedic doctor. Hopefully that won't be too bad. I'll keep ya posted.

I had wanted to take pictures of the things I did for my shoebox swap at Tina's along with the items I made as well, but with everything breaking, I just haven't had a chance.

That's all for now! Cyndy

Christmas House

2010-12-02T11:18:00.003-05:00

Here is my latest edition! I do have to look up who I copied this one from. As a demonstrator Stampin' Up! sends us a monthly newsletter and there are also contests for us to do. Well this is one very talented demonstrator. I did change this a bit but love this house. The house is from our Holiday mini (page 37) and if you want to recreate this, let me know asap and I can put a class together. You can only purpose the house until January 2, 2011. I'll be ordering a few more of these to make for the other major holidays. The roof is a little bleached but I used the DSP from the Holiday Mini along with the buttons that coordinate with it. I used the Bells & Boughs set (love this set) and accented it with the crochet trim and cherry cobbler cardstock. Those are the antique brads on the peaks of the roof. Oh, the house also comes with that very cute door knob! I hope you enjoyed this creation also and will post again soon, I promise! Cyndy

November Technique Class

2010-12-02T10:47:00.010-05:00

Well I'm again a little behind but getting there. Here are samples from my technique class this past November. Since it was so close to Thanksgiving, I was already in the Christmas mode. This first card is the Crimped Diamond. I saw this technique on Splitcoast done by Lee Conrey. I also used the multipurpose adhesive sheets for the ornament. It just isn't the holidays without glitter! This second card is something I haven't done in awhile and saw it recently and thought it was time to do it again. This is something like emboss resist with a twist. I've heard it called a few things, but I call it Emerging Colors. You take a light colored cardstock and stamp several images in different colors, then take a solid image and stamp it with Versamark and use clear embossing powder. Then brayer over the whole thing with a dark ink and then wipe away the excess ink with a tissue. I used snowflakes for the background in case you couldn't tell and kept with the cool colors of the winter season. Hope you like it.

This last card was a bit of a challenge but with awesome results. I really like the DSP in the Holiday Mini catalog and the Bells & Boughs set. It has a very vintage look to it. It's a pop up card and I love to make pop up cards! They do take some time and of course the receiver needs to be someone very special. I also used the clear tinsel from the mini and the gold pearlized smooch in the main catalog.

Here is a picture of the inside of the card. Oops I forgot to turn the card, it's sideways below, but I'm sure you get it. It's also a bit bulky to mail, but again it has to be someone very special to receive this card! Well I hope you've enjoyed my samples. Cyndy

Update

2010-11-15T10:43:00.004-05:00

Well here it is. It's been awhile again. I haven't been very good about staying on top of this, but I really am trying! Here are a few samples of some of the things I've been working on. It was like I was going away every month for awhile. July I went to Valley Forge for CKC Convention. Had a great time with a couple of friends and took lots of classes. Some were ok and some were great. Still haven't had a chance to implement them into my own classes. The whole purpose of taking them! September we finally did our Hoover leader's weekend. That was also lots of fun. I taught them how to make a paperbag album. We did some outdoor cooking, died a t-shirt, learned about chocolate and of course ate lots of it too! And did lots of eating! Then in October was my annual Octoberfest. So I was back at Hoover (that's where my September outing was). I taught the paperbag album again but showed them some different and interesting ways to add even more photos to the album. I also taught another class on different ways to wrap gifts. Some were very simple, others had more steps to them.

My latest project was making this "autograph" type of book. This woman's daughter was turning 16 and they needed a book for all the guests to write something to the special guest, so I came up with this book. I absolutely love the book. She gave me the paper that matched the invitation pretty well and I covered some chipboard with it and stamped some of the pages inside and had to "bling" it up a bit. I did an RSVP pen and added bling to that as well. The whole thing really "sparkled"! I hope Annie was as happy with it that I am.

My next project is to finish the marching band scrapbook that my daughter and the rest of the seniors gave to the director. It looks nice but needs just a bit more. When I get that back and finish that, I'll post a few of those pictures as well.

Happy crafting! Cyndy

Catching Up

2010-08-11T21:28:00.014-04:00

Ok, here we go. I went to Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge, PA and took several classes, hoping to learn some new things to teach. Well here are a couple of cards I did in a technique class, nothing I haven't done before and didn't even really get to do too much in the class, had to finish most of it at home. Although I think they did turn out nice, I added a rhinestone brad to give the flower card a bit more wow factor. The "happy birthday" card has stickles added to the scroll which is difficult to see in the picture.

The next 2 items are the shoebox swaps we did in the evening. I stayed with my friend Lorraine and her friend Karen. We had a great time and we took turns doing a swap an evening. The one is a book mark. There is a pocket in the back part so you can slip it on a page. The other is made from matboard from Sizzix. The opening for the picture was already there. Lorraine covered it with embossed cardstock.

Now the next 2 pictures are from a class I took. It's basically an acrylic album that stands up. It turned out very nice, I added pictures from last years trip to CKC. The group of us is me, Debbie, Ginger, & Linda. The picture next to it is Debbie & Karen. The green above their heads is a reflection from the grass. I also did some scrapbook pages & and envelope album, but haven't put any pictures on them yet, so when I figure out what pictures to use & fill them, I'll post them as well.

Ok, almost to the end. The next card is the thank you I designed for my son to send out from the graduation party we had back in July. Slowly but surely, I'll get caught up. Now for the last 2 pictures are of a birdhouse I've been working on. The front, back, & roof are made with metal. The roof is cooper that I "antiqued". I love the way it turned out. I used some retired SU DSP on the sides.

Well there we go, all done! Hope you enjoyed all the pictures. Cyndy

Technique Night

2010-07-20T00:23:00.005-04:00

Well here are the cards we made at the last technique class. The card on the right is what I made as a sample and the card on the left, I made as I taught the class. Same technique, but look very different visually. I love them both! This technique is called "Bargello". You want to use striped DSP and cut different width strips of DSP. I then glued the strips onto a piece of Whisper White and layered it onto Basic Black. A bit early for Halloween, but this was the only stripped DSP I had!

This next technique is called "Antique Wallpaper". I had to use a few things I just got from the new catty! There is this awesome distress kit. I used the inks from that, our new paper daisies, and one of the new embossing folders. Isn't it antique y looking!? The last technique was really quite easy. It's called "Eyelet Border Flower". Another simple technique, but packs a lot of punch! Well I hope you enjoyed the latest projects.

I'll have to get another post out soon. I won tickets to the Octoberfest in July at Shawnee Ski in PA. We had a good time and saw a clown we haven't seen since the kids were small! Hope you enjoyed the samples. See you soon! Cyndy

Happy Fourth!

2010-07-11T14:11:00.011-04:00

Well the 4th of July has come and gone! I can't believe it! I bought a new camera in May because our old one just died. It has several features I haven't even attempted yet, but we were at our local fireworks display and thought I'd give this feature a shot. Not bad! I didn't even use a tripod! Imagine how it would turn out if I had a tripod and a remote to snap the picture?! I did crop them before uploading. I did get a bunch of black pictures too, but with digital, who cares, just delete them!

I've been trying to catch up with stuff at home. Finally getting some energy back. Got a bunch of yard work done and the outside is starting to really come together. I'll post some pictures next time of all the flowers and my vegetable garden. These next 2 pictures are from Matthew's graduation party we had. Jess wanted this cupcake cookbook we saw in the local craft store. So here are some cupcakes she made for the party. She put a lot of work into them. They looked so professional and they tasted great too! I don't know why I was so amazed, she IS very talented! Can you tell how proud I am? I have 2 great kids (yes they do drive me crazy too) and am very proud of both. Matt will be starting college in the fall and Jess will be finishing high school in June of 2011! Boy how time flies!

I've also finally had a chance to get down in my stamp room and get some stamping done! Oh, how I miss that. My friend Debbie came over and we played a bit and came up with some samples for us to do at our next technique class. One of them, I'm going to have to save and send to my friend Chris, she is just going to love it! Now I know that gives none of you a hint as to what it could be, but Chris will know and if Edna, Eileen or Maddy reads this, they may figure it out too. Hmm, maybe I should do a prize for who figures out what one of the projects is. How about a stamp set? Yes, that's what I'll do. So if you're the first to comment or send me an email as to what one of my projects is you'll win a stamp set. Now to figure out what set! Now don't fault me, this is my first time and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Hope you're enjoying the summer! Cyndy

June Happenings!

2010-06-26T18:50:00.007-04:00

Well let's hope I'm back on track or at least close to it. Matthew graduated earlier this week. That was a big relief off my chest. I noticed in my posts in March and April I didn't mention about Matthew in a car accident. Well between me not feeling well and then his injuries, I just haven't been able to keep up with things. I'm feeling much better and Matthew is doing better but still is restricted as to what he can do. We go to another doctor on Monday in hopes of some help and answers. It has been very stressful around here to say the least.
To the left is the card I made for Matthew (a day late) but got it done. The school colors are red, white and blue, so that's why the card is such. I used Brilliant Blue, which is retiring, but am happy with the outcome of the card. Hope you enjoy it too.

This next project is a paper bag album I made for Matthew to take to a friend of his that is having her graduation party today. Of course, this was last minute as everything seems to be these days. This is just the front cover. I used a lot of retired DSP, card stock, and accessories for this as I seem to have so much of it now! I put a few pictures inside, but left mostly blank pages for her to put in pictures of school or whatever. I did have a few of her and Matt from when she was over our place horse back riding and when I had set up a table for one of the Relay for Life events to make cards for cancer patients. Then I also had a few from graduation itself. Tara was Valedictorian for their class. She had a nice speech and I must say she is such a nice person too!

Well I hope you've enjoyed my latest projects. I'm in the process of reorganizing my stamp room. It's a bit of a mess, but getting there. Have to get rid of some stuff so I can get around! I'll try and get some pics up of how things are moving along. It's been hard to get things accomplished, I seem to be on the road taking Matthew to his appointments and school. Now that school is out I'm hoping to have a bit more time. I've also been getting my garden in and mulching some areas that didn't get done last year. I'll have to get some of that loaded too! Hope you have a great weekend and stop by soon. Cyndy

April Update

2010-04-08T18:39:00.005-04:00

Well April is here and the weather is finally beginning to change! I love the spring and all the new growth. Things are starting to turn green, my daffodils are blooming, the hyacinths I bought smell beautiful. What could be better? Well the ENT (ear, nose & throat) doctor I went to thinks I have allergies! Oh good grief! I've never had allergies before and I've been feeling miserable for about 2 months now! Today I finally felt like I could do something. I've had migraines, then congestion, nose leaking uncontrollable. Well the migraines don't seem to be a problem and my nose leaking like someone turned on the faucet has finally stopped, but I'm still so stuffed up I can hardly breath! I'm on some medication that is finally helping and I finally slept somewhat last night and I laid down! Before if I even bent over my head would throb! So I am making progress finally! I'm so glad. My temporary filling fell out and need to get the tooth fixed from when I had my root canal. That's tomorrow, so wish me luck. I also want to go to a stamp show on Saturday, so hopefully the dentist won't make me feel worse. I also finally feel like stamping! I felt so bad I didn't feel like doing anything, including stamping! So now I have to catch up on some cards I owe some people. I also have an open house to do on Sunday. In case you didn't know, I'm also a Realtor and this weekend the National Association of Realtors is promoting an open house weekend across the country to promote the ending of the $8,000 tax credit to first time home buyers. So I thought it would be a good idea to have an open house for my new listing. So if you're in the Blairstown area and would like to stop in on Sunday, I'd love to see you! Or of course if you know anyone that is looking to buy, send them over. The address is 2 Spring Valley Rd, Hardwick, NJ. The open house is this Sunday, April 11, from 1pm to 4pm.

March Technique

2010-03-27T20:33:00.005-04:00

I had technique class last week, but have been sick all week and just getting my samples posted. Being Easter is right around the corner, I had to do an Easter basket. Don't remember where I got the pattern, I think I got it off the SU site. I also used the scalloped oval frame. The next technique was basically like a resist technique. The base was glossy cs, stamp your detailed image, then brayer over using your lightest ink, then stamp the next medium color, then the darkest ink all using the same detailed image. Finally I stamped the image again and heated embossed with white embossing powder.

This last technique was using metal and double embossing. Love the way this came out. You take a piece of metal and place in an embossing folder, run it through the Sizzix, sand the embossed pieces, then you need to flatten it out by running it through the machine again. Once it's flattened you place it in another embossing folder and run it through the Sizzix, sand again. You can then use sharpies to color the raised areas.

Scrap pages

2010-03-27T19:55:00.014-04:00

The spread on the left is a kit I purchased at a CKC in Valley Forge last year. It's from Camp Hoover's 50th Reunion. Deb Hooker is the current camp director and she organized this fabulous event. She also had the path to the Ropes Course named after my mother. That meant a lot to me.

Here's another spread from the reunion. I did this one using the technique used by Tami Potter. I purchased her book at CKC in Valley Forge. Maybe this year, I'll get a chance to take her class.

These next 2 layouts are pictures from a reception for my cousin's son. He got married in Korea last year. The reception was for our family here in the states.

This last layout was also done at CKC, I just finally put in the pictures. It's done on canvas with another smaller canvas on top. Makes it a bit thick to put in a book, so I got a frame for it and going to hang it on the wall.

Life Update

2010-03-14T13:24:00.003-04:00

Well I've been trying to find some time to get another post up, but there just hasn't been enough time. I guess that could be a good thing. Was having major headaches and needed to have root canal done and that went fine (much better then expected) but got another headache so back to the doctor! Also had to take my elderly cousin (86 years old!) to the dentist and get her taxes done and shopping. In between all this doing my real estate. This is a picture of my most recent listing. It's a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch in Hardwick. It needs some updating, but a nice home in a nice area. After I got the listing we had 2 feet of snow! Which certainly didn't help to get showings. Now that all the rain has melted most of it, we're swamped with mud! Spring is certainly about here! at least the rain wasn't snow, because we would probably have another 3 feet of it! I did manage to get a few scrapbook pages completed but my camera broke and haven't been able to try and get pictures taken with the old camera. Hopefully this week. Looking forward to getting OUTSIDE to do some yard work, at least it's warmer! Until next time. Cyndy

GS Adult Weekend

2010-02-26T17:10:00.006-05:00

Well here was the project I was going to teach this weekend. Now those of you who maybe viewing this site, don't tell anyone what they are going to make! I was going to be at Camp Hoover outside of Newton this weekend, but because of all the snow, they closed camp! It's only Friday and we have 2 feet of snow and it's not suppose to stop until tomorrow. It snows off and on this afternoon so I'm hoping there won't be much more accumulation. Years ago my mother had run an older girl program in February, usually a little earlier in the month to teach girls how to handle different emergency situations, along with building a shelter, finding food & water, and compase reading. So back to my little album. This is a paperbag album. I use 3 bags to make this project. I also used paper from K&Company. Loved the way this turned out. My sideline and friend Debbie Giannos also made one using the same papers, but hers turned out very different. She isn't a Girl Scout! Shame on her! So she wanted to be able to work it in with pictures she would have. I didn't get any pictures of her album, so when I do, I'll post hers as well. I also used a retired stamp set from SU that looks a lot like girl scouts. I hope this set lasts forever! I know many who would anything to get it!

This is the first inside page of my book. It's taken from 2003. My daughter Jess was in 4th grade I think. This was the first time the troop was going camping in tents! I couldn't believe it. We were staying at Valhalla, Camp Hoover's "primitive site". Not really, there is running water and flush toilets. The building you see is a leanto. It's open on 3 sides, but very large. It's big enough to put a good size pop up tent in there! Well I tried to teach them how to make a fire. I had 2 dad's there (I did get one mom to join us)and one was a volunteer fireman, so it wasn't easy. Do you have any idea how much firemen like to make fires?!

We also did the ropes course, they had a blast! The Saturday was a beautiful day and things dried nicely after the heavy rains we had the day before. There are more pages but didn't want to get them all up. You'll have to come to the rescheduled event to see for yourself and make one of your own! Cyndy

John's Birthday

2010-02-26T17:04:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was my hubby's birthday and didn't get a chance to make his card until his birthday! Soooo I had to keep it simple and really wanted to use my metal and of course have it look masculine, so I used one of my textured plates from SU. The metal is chocolate. After running the metal through the Sizzix I sanded it so you could see the texture better. It coordinated real well with SU Chocolate chip cs and ribbon. It's accented with tempting turquiose. I amazed myself how quickly I was able to whip this one together. Hope you enjoy it. Cyndy

Technique Night - Belated Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-17T12:46:00.005-05:00

Well here were my Valentine's! A little late, but here they are. I had fun making them. This is what we are doing this Friday at my monthly technique class instead of last Friday. On the Valentine to the left I used the new heart shape treat cup and the tab on it is to pull and release the M&M's. Unfortunately my daughter wasn't thinking about that when she pulled hers and the M&M's went everywhere! Wish I was there for that one!

This next one was really pretty easy. I used a couple of heart punches and an embossing folder. Got this idea from the Technique Junkie newsletter I subscribe to. So many cool techniques in this past issue.

This last technique I also got from Technique Junkie.
I used the shimmer paint, which is still available, and re-inkers. This was also very easy to do and a lot of fun. Hope you stop by next month to see what exciting technique we do. Or better yet, come to class and enjoy in person! I will be posting other new and exciting things before the next class, so see you soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T15:36:00.016-05:00

Well I know this project has nothing to do with Valentine's Day exactly, but this was a big project I just finished up. Another niece of mine (much older)is having a baby and she just had her shower yesterday. I had made her a baby blanket and a photo album. Really liked the way the album turned out. I stamped the front cover with craft ink and made chipboard letters covered with the crystal effects. I also made the frame from a piece of chipboard and covered it with some DSP. The first page in the album a lifted from the Simply Scrappin Kit that's in the current SU catalog. Just loved that page.

The next page I got from MDS (My Digital Studio) Figured it would be easiest to use the templates from that and just make them for real. I also got some ideas from pagemaps.com They have a monthly newsletter that's free and members are also uploading samples of their layouts. These are just some samples from the album. I did take pictures of all the pages and loved the way it turned out. She loved the book too and fortunately noone else got her anything like it, how could they! Now she'll be all ready for when the baby comes to document her progress!

My technique class was postponed to this coming Friday, so I'll post the pictures from that in the next few days. In case you wanted to come and couldn't make it last week, call me and reserve your spot. For the others that are coming, I'll see you then! Have a great V day! Cyndy

Happy Birthday!

2010-02-14T14:49:00.008-05:00

Well it's been a couple of busy weeks! I've been working on several projects and finally finished a few! First card was for my nephew. I missed his birthday and wanted to make him a special card. I think he turned 10 or 11. How bad is that, I don't even know! Well I really liked the way his card turned out. I took regular brads and used heat n' stick powder and red glitter on the icing of the cupcake and the candle on it too. Just love that glitter! I also used one of the texture plates in the Sizzix for the cover of the card. Need to make another one of these to keep on hand, nice look for a boy of any age I think. The second card was for my niece (my nephew's sister) she just turned 5. Had to make something pretty for her and had to use that glitter! Also used some of my new stuff from the Occasions Mini. Now onto the next project!

Friends - Very Vintage

2010-01-30T14:03:00.005-05:00

Some of the new stuff from the Occasions Mini I was playing around with. Sending this off to a special friend, wait til she gets it, she'll be so surprised! Shuh, don't tell anybody! I used pretty in pink for the base card and wheeled the very vintage jumbo wheel with pretty in pink ink, then I used the polka dots embossing folder and rubbed the chocolate chip ink over the dots. I also used the new corner and edge scallop punches for the frame around "friends" and part of the border. The bottom is layered with the new paper in the mini called Sending Love, it has embossed glittery stuff on it, very pretty, and real red. I also used the new brads, butterfly sizzlet and satin ribbon. Now to make another for me to keep! TaTa for now! Cyndy

Holiday Gift

2010-01-30T09:50:00.013-05:00

This past holiday season I got a part time job working at Coldwater Creek in Chester. It was a lot of fun and got a lot of new clothes! Of course I thought about everything in SU colors! Well last weekend they had a party for everyone and we had a grab bag. I used the blocks we sold in the Holiday Mini and made a gift. I used the theme of different holidays (i.e. Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, etc.), I got this idea from my upline Tina Rosenkrans. She had a display at our last Fall Fest. I loved how the blocks turned out and now need to get some more so I can make at least another set for me! Here are the pictures, hope you enjoy them as much as I did and it was fun to make as well! Cyndy

Sale-A-Bration Swaps

2010-01-30T09:45:00.018-05:00

I recently participated in a Sale-a-Bration Swap and just wanted to show you all the beautiful swaps and ideas I got. Ok, I don't know how to edit this any better then it is, so if anyone can lend a hand in helping me figure out how to get these pictures in and take up less space and able to put some of what I'm writing next to the pictures, please let me know. This first picture with the mirror image of the bird wasn't a Sale-a-Bration swap, but Tina added it as a bonus! It's by Michelle Zindorf. She was at our Fall Fest and taught how to do this. She is a very talented lady! the next swap is by Leslie Percival. It looks like she did Rock n' Roll, love the color! Below left is by Kelly Mahoney and right by Jen Peel.

These next 2 are by Debbie VanGieson and Donna Foster.

These two are by Chris Litchfield and Claire Lawrence. Really gotta get that DSP!

This last one is by Debby Kainu, love the bling and this new DSP in the Occasions is sparkly!

Downline Meeting

2010-01-20T08:29:00.022-05:00

Well last night was my upline Tina Rosenkraus downline meeting. This month we talked about leadership and the exciting changes coming our way. We also had a shoebox swap. Here are the pictures of the swaps we each made. The flower to the left is by Jeannine Rubenstein and the card to the right is by Tina Rosenkraus. Jeannine also brought some show and tells that she made using the Big Shot and our die cuts, but didn't have my camera to take pics, sorry. She made head bands (die cut flowers with fabric and used a brad to attach to head band), and hair clips (also using the die cuts and the new felt pieces in the Occasions Mini) they were real cute! I had also scene a picture of someone who used the flower brads and made earrings! It was on our new Stampin' Connection, just for SU Demonstrators! It's a new way for us to be able to connect more and post our creations!

The cute little milk box was created by Debbie VanGieson and the calendar to the right was done by Louise DelVecchio. There is a magnet on the back so you can put it up on your frig! Isn't it adorable!

This cute little owl was made by Tina Rosenkraus. She copied it from our monthly Stampin' Discuss. Isn't it cute! Now I need to figure out what to do with it!

I also made a mini chipboard album, some pics below. I need to fill in some info but really happy with the way it turned out. It was a lot of fun to make! The picture to the right is the front of the album and below is just inside. That is a picture of the my grandparents on their wedding day in 1919!

The picture here to the left is me on my wedding day in 1982! Big difference!

Well I hope you enjoyed all the show and tells for today! I have some more to post but will have to wait for another day! Enjoy the rain and don't get to wet. Cyndy

January Technique Class

2010-01-15T13:09:00.008-05:00

Well here are the other two cards from my technique class this month. This first card was a bit involved. I got this template last year from "Lets Party Hearty" and thought this would be a good one to work on. There are instructions that come with the template and they also have a video on their site. Glad I looked at the video, because there were pointers on it that weren't mentioned in the instructions and it really helped to put it together. So my suggestion is if you want to make this card, check out their site. I also used these metal sheets to make the butterfly on this card. I got the metal sheets from Marco papers, but it's made by Ten Seconds Studio. They have some really neat stuff and great tutorials, you have to also check out their site! This next card, I got the idea from Technique Junkie. It's called Medallion Window technique. It's really easy to do. You stamp your "medallion" on your cardfront, open the card and cut out your "window" from the medallion and add layers to the inside of the card. The first layer is adhered directly to the inside of the card and the additional layers you use dimensionals. I colored in the "white" parts on the card front. You can use anything you want to color in your image. I then used Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, and Gold Metallic cardstock, all from Stampin' Up! I layered the card on a piece of Brocade Blue as a base. The piece of Brocade blue in the center was stamped with the new Vintage Labels from the Sale-a-Bration catalog. So this was a FREE stamp set! And now they come so you can use them with acrylic blocks! I'm really lovin' this card, hope you do too. See you soon. Cyndy

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T09:57:00.016-05:00

Well the New Year has begun! Jessie has been wanting a cat for a long time and we finally were able to convince John, it was the thing to do. So "Buddy" joined our family the week before Christmas. He is such a great cat. Buddy has adapted to Jess' room and usually doesn't hide when I come in. I'm trying to get him to venture out, but want to keep the dogs at bay while he adjusts. Trigger has been very curious about this new "creature". I think Trigger thinks we got him a new toy to play with and doesn't understand why he can't play with Buddy! John also got a new pet. His is a bit larger! His name is Dakota. We adopted Dakota because the past owner was afraid to ride him because he kept on bucking every time you got on. So John has been working with him and as you can see, John is still on and Dakota hasn't once tried to buck him off! I'm glad of that! We've actually had him for a while, but it's been way too cold for me to go out and visit with him. That snow just doesn't seem to want to melt!

Well I finally got to play a bit with some of the new things I got from the Sale-a-Bration and Occasions Mini. I cased this from Splitcoast (Kristin Moore). Used the same colors (Soft Suade, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Whisper White), but changed the emblossing folder and used a butterfly die cut. Tried out one of the new punches (Scallop Trim Border from the Salebration). Also, just to let you know. My Technique class scheduled for this Friday is being moved to next week. It will be on Thursday at 7pm. Hope to see you there. Make sure you RSVP if you're attending! Cyndy

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T19:02:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas! Hope you had a great Christmas. I just wanted to share the card I sent out to family. I have been so far behind at getting anything done this season. I didn't get my cards out until the Monday or Tuesday before Christmas! I was amazed though how quickly I got this card together! John took the picture on Saturday, I think. I got it off the camera and uploaded to Walmart and picked up the pictures, all in one day! That night I designed the card and got it all together! Jessie helped with the bubble of what Emily was saying. Hope you like the card. So beside getting my card out late, I didn't even get to bake all the cookies I usually do either. Going through menopause has really been difficult! Can't seem to stay organized and able to get things done like I used to! Well I hope you have be able to enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate. Now here comes 2010! Oh boy! Cyndy

December Technique

2009-12-16T09:56:00.005-05:00

Well I had to reschedule my technique class again, but we finally had it! This is the side step card we made. I usually take the picture outside, but the weather hasn't been cooperating, so had to do it inside and used the flash. Well it burned it too much! The hardest part to this card is the cutting and scoring. It can be confusing, but once you get the hang of it, not too bad! We also used the embossing folder that's in the Holiday mini catalog for 3 of the ornaments. I recommend to punch the ornament out first and then run it through the embossing folder, otherwise it could get stuck in the punch! On the chocolate chip ones we used the gold shimmer paint to give it some sparkle. We also inked the other ornaments in the Classic ink then with a dauber applied the gold shimmer paint directly to the stamp and then stamped the image to give it some sparkle as well. Give it a little bit to dry before punching the image out or it can smudge.

These next 2 photos are the star ornament we made. It's not really a card, but

I've been wanting to do this for some time and this was the right time of year to do it! I tried to have the photo of it closed show first, but still figuring out how to manipulate everything! So the first photo is what it looks like when you have it open and the second is closed. This is really a very simple ornament to make. If you've ever made a "squash" book, it's the same idea. This is an origami technique and I've loved doing origami for a long time and this is a great way to bring stamping and paperfolding together!

For our third technique, it was definitely not a card! For those of you who haven't been to a technique class, I usually do cards. The techniques don't have to be done on just cards, but it's usually the easiest way to learn the technique. So this last one was another ornament using glass etching. It's really another very simple

technique, just takes a little patience and time. For this one we use the Sizzix Big Shot dies and the vinyl decor elements along with glass etching creme. If you ever try this, I would recommend putting the creme on thick. I usually this this first and then go onto to something else while the creme dries. It doesn't have to dry completely before removing, just follow the directions on the brand that you get.

Well I hoped you enjoyed the projects and can join us in January for my next class! Happy Holidays! Cyndy

December's First Snow

2009-12-06T21:56:00.004-05:00

Well December has just begun and had our first snow storm. I got a part time job at Coldwater Creek in Chester, through a friend of mine. I had never shopped there, but after going to the store and working with all the wonderful women there. It's such a pleasant place to work and shop! Well back to my story. I had to work this weekend. They talked about snow coming but just didn't think it was going to happen. While I was at the store, the snow started to come in the afternoon. By the time I got out (4pm) there was probably a couple of inches on the ground, sticking to the roads and making a BIG mess! The drive home took a lot longer then usual. It continued to snow till about 9pm. I think we got about 4" of snow. The driveway wasn't too bad. Because of the warmer temperatures on Sunday it helped melt the snow. Thank goodness it was on the weekend and didn't have to sit in rush hour traffic! The next day, was a beautiful sunny day. I wanted to get a picture of the tree tops with the beautiful blue sky, but didn't get a chance before I had to leave for work. But John must have gotten these pictures later in the day. This is actually our 2nd snow storm for this season and it's not even winter yet!

Horseback Riding

2009-12-06T21:47:00.004-05:00

Well I'm catching up on my November's activities. Just a short post from when John and I went riding. We went again the next week, but didn't take pictures that day. The day of the pictures, it was a really mild day with lots of sunshine. I only had to wear a light jacket! We go down to Footbridge Park in Blairstown and ride to the airport and get coffee or a bite to eat at the Airport Cafe. Then here's another picture of us outside the cafe at the airport. Some nice lady came along and offered to get a picture for us.

SU Holiday Party

2009-12-06T21:06:00.007-05:00

Well I don't know what happened to November by it just flew right by! I did get a chance to go horseback riding with my husband during a couple of the warm days we had. Also this month my wonderful upline Tina had us get together for our annual Holiday party. We usually have this in December, but think everyone was busy to do December. Anyway we had a great time. Everyone brought an appetizer or a dessert to share. Pauline brought a star/card/ornament and Tina insisted that we all make one. We also all made a gift to swap. It had to be something made with SU products. Here's a picture of the box I made and the inside. I also made some ornaments to go in the box. Some were ornaments I made last year using the die cut "peace, love, joy, cheer". I also had made the star/card/ornament that Pauline had brought to show everyone and another ornament we made from our shoebox swap in September or October. It was Louise DelVecchio's. You use DSP and the ornament punch. It was so simple I made a few later that week. We play a game to see who gets what. It's a lot of fun and you may not go home with the gift you first pick, but you do go home with one of the gifts. I forgot my camera to take pictures of all the gifts, but if you go to Colleen's blog, she has pictures of all the gifts. Enjoy! Cyndy

Halloween

2009-11-10T10:32:00.008-05:00

Well now that I seem to be back up and running, I thought I'd get at least one picture posted of our recent Municipal Alliance event. Every year the Frelinghuysen Municipal Alliance sponsors the "open house" at our town hall. We do a drug and alcohol free events and Halloween is one of our biggest events. We prepare hot dogs, punch, hot drinks along with lots of candy! We had 150 hot dogs and had to borrow some that were left there. Even though the weather was iffy, we had a great turnout! Here's a picture of our crew and som of our place decked out! Everyone seemed to have a great time!

Computer

2009-11-10T10:22:00.002-05:00

Well I think I finally have everything running ok. Had some major problems and still working on getting everything back to what it was. Had to send in my laptop to have one key fixed. Well they couldn't just fix the one, they had to replace the whole thing! Well I bought a new 16GB flashdrive to back up everything. That went fine. Used it a couple of times and then couldn't get it to read on any computer! Oh, how crushed I am! I'm missing pictures from June through October along with numerous files which will takes months to replace. Looking into having a data recovery company try and retrieve the files. Let you know how that goes! So when I got my laptop back, I had to put all my software back on. Thought that was no big deal! Spent the week doing that, a little at a time. Then it started "not responding" to everything, whether I was just trying to open a file or surfing the web! I spent the entire last Friday fixing that! I was having a real meltdown! I was planning on spending the day preparing for the craft show I was doing the next day at the local Blairstown Presbyterian Church. Welll that didn't happen. I have things working again, brought it into the office and had Brandon do his magic so I could work at the office as well. I'm still putting all my favorites back into my favorites file AGAIN! There is that love/hate relationship you have with your computer. I hope all that kind of stuff is behind me. I think I'm going to look into an external hard drive I can use to back up everything from time to time. This is not worth all the frustration and time!

Stamp swap

2009-10-21T16:40:00.008-04:00

Well I sent in my laptop in the shop to get the one "key" that popped off. I've been dredding doing this, but needs to be done. Now I have to use my husband's computer which is so as malasses! So here is a quick post of some of the projects we did at my upline Tina meeting the other night. This first one, is the one I did. My sideline Ginger Gould did a similar one with us in a fall theme. The instructions were posted on our SU site and had wanted to make one for the longest time. It's such a cute little book. Would go perfect in your bag to show off your family!

This one was designed by Colleen Benedetto. Such a cute little wagon. We kept on saying all the wonderful things we could put in it as well as make it for different holidays.

This ornament to the right was designed by Louise Del Velvecchio, this was so easy yet so elegant!

The snowman ornament was designed by Tracy Bakunas, this was another quicky but again so cute.

The next one was this Top Note box. Love the holiday paper in the catalog, was going to get, but forgot, got to make sure I pick up this pack! This box was designed by Kathryn Roberts. Beautiful!

These last two were also fun, and just as charming! The left one was using our matchbox die cut and the new sizzlet folder die for the tags, the sizzlet die for the trees, snowflake & bird and the embossing folder. Debbie Modrowsky designed these. The far right was designed by none other then our fabulous upline Tina Rosenkraus. This was using the boxes in the holiday mini as well and a piece from one of the extended Bigz die cuts. You could put a photo there and use it as an ornament or just a decoration during the holidays. Loved all these projects and now have some great ideas for classes!

Enjoy! Cyndy

Octoberfest

2009-10-17T10:44:00.010-04:00

Well I finally uploaded my pictures from Octoberfest and Eileen sent me a couple so I can share our group photo. I had a great time and came home exhausted! My Elizabeth girls (as I call them, but they are not all from Elizabeth!) stopped at Newton for dinner and then on to Shoprite to pick up their last essentials for the weekend and got lost getting to camp. My local friend Debbie and I reserved our sleeping spot and then hung out in the dinning hall for the rest of everyone.

Saturday, the weather was beautiful and the first half was rather relaxing. After breakfast I treated myself to a massage and then went to my basketry class. The class was taught by my friend Debbie Zvanut. She told me some time ago that my sister Pam was the one that taught her how to weave! Well Debbie does a beautiful job on her baskets and I always enjoy taking her classes. My friends from Elizabeth and I decided were going to go out to her place, outside of Allentown, and make a basket some weekend. Well I didn't get my basket done during the class. I never do, but did finish later that night (that was around 2am!). We had a lunch break, which was great as usual (so was breakfast). They always have so much food. Here are pictures of me finishing my basket with my instuctor and my finished basket!

The afternoon, I taught two stamping classes. One was a stationery box with a card, gift card & tag to put into it. My other friend Debbie helped me to prepare for these classes along with helping me teach them as well. This class was a bit difficult and took a bit longer, but we got it done! The second class was much easier. They made an explosion box. Here is a picture of my sample, along with what the inside looked like. I found several different variations on the internet. The one we made was just one sheet of 12x12 cardstock for the base and an 8 1/8" square of DSP for the lid. Everyone was able to use more of their creativity on this one. Wish I had taken some pictures while they were working on them, but at this point I was pretty tired! Everyone who wasn't done used the free time we had before dinner to finish up.

After dinner we had a white elephant sale. In case you don't know what that is, everyone brings stuff they don't want anymore, they sell raffle tickets and you take a chance at winning what you put your tickets to. Camp earned enough money to buy a new funyak! Way to go!

Saturday evening after dinner, they had a fire in the dinning hall (not to worry, it was in the fireplace) and sang girl scout songs. I was a bit tired and wanted to finish my basket, so I along with the rest of our group went back to our cabin to hang out. Some did some scrapbooking, some just read and others finished their projects as well. My friend Diane wasn't able to take my explosion box class, so she stopped in to make one herself (sort of!) My friend Diane is not a crafter and always lets me know, but I think secrectly she enjoys it! So this time as she made her box, I got her to be more involved. Here is a picture of her making her box.

Finally here is a picture of our group! My Elizabeth girls are planning another adult weekend in Febuary, can't wait!That's all for now! Will have to be out in that nasty weather later today. It's the Marching Band "Music Under the Stars" fund raiser. The band is doing quite well so far this year, they have come in first place at each competition. They are a very focused group of kids and really put their all into their performance. I hope they move things indoors, but will be prepared to be outside if necessary!

Last Wish

2009-10-13T18:57:00.001-04:00

Going through my email this evening I received this information today from my pastor and thought, why not post this on my blog and I could really get the information out. This boy, Ethan Theilmann, from Franklin, NJ who is seriously ill and is hospitalized at Newton Hospital.
He has a final wish to receive a thousand birthday cards to celebrate his upcoming birthday on Monday, October 19th.
If you are able to send him a card, his family would be much appreciative.
The mailing address is: Ethan Theilmann, 19 Auche Drive, Franklin, NJ 07416.
Let's try and grant his wish, I know we can do this!

Fall Fest

2009-09-28T20:24:00.007-04:00

Now for Fall Fest. We had such a great time. Besides all the great displays, speakers and make n takes. It's also so nice to see other demonstrators that I haven't seen in a long time and get a chance to catch up on how they're doing. My upline Tina asked some of her downline to do a demo during our event. So I offered and did one the new Shimmering Paint that we carry. I had a lot of fun doing it. Here is one of the cards I did. I used the champagne to heat emboss the image and then colored it in with the frost white.

I'm now going to try and post a picture or two of a swap I got from Michelle Zindorf! It was a pity swap too! I feel so privileged! I now have to send her a card. Isn't this a beautiful swap! I did get a few other swaps, which I'm going to be sending them a swap in return. Well that's all for now. I'll try and post again soon with more pictures from Fall Fest and my Kids Stamp Camp. Got to work on my album I'm creating with our new "My Digital Studio". As a demonstrator I was able to pre purchase it. In just a few days, customers will be able to purchase. It is such a great paper crafting tool! More later.

Technique Class

2009-09-28T19:22:00.006-04:00

Well I wanted to post much sooner then this, but it has been a very busy month so far! I seemed to go from one project to another with no down time. Now that Fall Fest is over I have a bit of a breather before the next event. First here is a picture of a card we did at my belated Technique Tuesday class. This was really fun to do and looks really elegant in person. We used alcohol inks to do this, but I'm sure I could have used the SU Classic inks in a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol like doing polished stone without the metallic ink.

Supplies:

card stock

aluminum foil

alcohol inks & applicator

blending solution

Xyron

Black Stazon

embossing folder

Big Shot

So here is how to do: Take a piece of cardstock (doesn't matter the color). As far as size goes, it depends on what you're going to use it for, here I used 3 3/4" x 5". Place you're card stock through a xyron or cover one side with double sided adhesive and place on a piece of aluminum foil (sticky side to foil) slightly larger then your cardstock. Fold over the extra foil to back. Now load up your cotton ball/piece of felt or whatever with about 2-3 drops each of 2 different ink colors. Dark colors work better on this project. After you have the in on your cotton ball add alcohol unless you're already using alcohol ink you then add the blending solution. Now pounch your cotton ball/piece of felt all over the piece of foil covered card stock. Do this until you're satisfied with how it looks. Place your piece into an embossing folder with the foil towards the negative side and run it through your BIG SHOT. Take out and with a juicy Stazon pad (black) swipe it over the raised part (embossed). Add to card and embellish as desired.

Sept. 7

2009-09-07T09:17:00.007-04:00

Well yes it's been a long time since I posted. I am going to try and get back to posting on a more regular basis. So many things have happened over the summer and with the kids getting back to school, I'm hoping to get back into some sort of routine. I work so much better with a routine. That can be boring, but when it does, I can just change the routine! John has been busy getting the last minute details together for the Ren Faire he is helping to put together with the Warren County 4-H teen council. It's going to be this Saturday and Sunday. We're hoping the weather will stay dry for at least while the faire is running. The forecast so far doesn't look great, so please pray for good weather. You can go to http://www.warren4-hrenfaire.org/ for more information. The whole family will be working this event and hope it is a big success.

Ok, so here goes an upload. Hope it works! .
I did it! This card is a swap a I did for Tina's last downline meeting. It's using our new shimmering paints. I just love this product. I'm working on different ways to use it for a demonstration at our Fall Fest later this month. The ornaments do shimmer, it's just hard to photograph to see it. I plan on doing this as part of my technique class for this month. The card below is a card we did at last month's technique class. It was a bit of work but you really get the WOW when people open it. Hope you like it.

I also need to get my retired stamps and kits together for this weekend. My friend and sideline Debbie Giannos will be having a table at the Succasunna Day this Saturday. I was hoping to be there with her, but have to be at the Warren County Fair grounds instead! Maybe next year! Debbie and I are selling our retired Stampin' Up! sets along with scrapbooking and card kits. Anyway if you can't make the Ren Faire on Saturday, stop by Succasunna for their fair. Here is the link for that event http://www.roxburylibrary.org/ Well I have to get going we're having a BBQ this afternoon and got to get some things done before company comes over!

October

2008-10-01T09:10:00.003-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. So much had been going on in my life, it made it difficult to keep up. I will try and post more frequently. I hadn't even had time for a while to stamp! I did get back into the swing of things a bit and worked on my samples for my Christmas ornament class. Oh, they are so darling, I can't wait to do this class!

There are also some new promotions happening with Stampin' Up! this month. October is the official birthday of Stampin' Up! It's their 20th birthday and they are offering a selection of stamp sets at 20% off. I will try and upload the flyer with all the details. I also will be holding a FREE class to make a card for World Card Making Day (October 5, check my schedule). Also the recruiting special is still in effect until October 11. This is the best deal I have seen since I've become a demonstrator. I have so much enjoyed being a SU demonstrator and have met so many fabulous people, I just can't say enough of this wonderful group of people. So if you have any inkling that you think this is for you, contact me and I can give you all the details of being a demonstrator.

Retired Stamps Sets

2008-09-09T16:04:00.002-04:00

Well I finally got my retired list together. Below is the list of my retiring stamp sets available. I do have a garage sale coming up on Sept. 28 from 10am to 1pm if you would rather wait and come to that. To save on shipping you can come by to pick it up. If you'd like to know the condition or to see a picture, send me an email and I'll email you a picture of the front and back of the stamp set. Some are in brand new condition, some are slightly used and some are well used. All stamp well, but may have some staining on the rubber &/or wood. I also have retired accessories for sale. If you're interested in any accessories I can email you the list.
A Greeting for All Reasons - 15.00
A Light Heart - 11.00
A Little Love - 9.00
A to Z Accents - 9.00
All About Occasions - 5.00
All About U - 14.00
All I Have Seen - 8.00
All Natural - 9.00
All Through the Year - 9.00
All Year Cheer I - 15.00
All Year Cheer III - 15.00
Alphabits - 8.00
Alphadots alphabet - 13.50
Amazing to Zany - 21.00
Background Basics - 5.00
Be Happy - 10.00
Big Pieces - 15.50
Both Way Blossoms - 10.00
Brushstroke Alphabet U & L - 15.00
Brushstroke Numbers - 8.00
Bud Basics - 9.00
Buds & Blossoms - 10.00 Reserved
Burst into Bloom - 6.00
By Definition - 9.00
By Design - 8.00
Carte Postale - 13.00
Classic Numbers - 8.00
Collage Alphabelt - 13.00
Delight in Life - 9.00
Down to Business - 10.00
Elegant Beginnings - 10.00
Flaky Friends - 13.00
Flannel Plaid - 9.00
Flower Garden - 10.00
Frame & Flourishes - 15.00
Fresh Flowers - 12.00
Fun Filled - 8.00
Gentler Times - 12.00
Girlfriends - 11.00
Greetings Galore - 15.50
Happiest of Holidays - 7.00
Heart & Home - 11.00
Holiday Spirit - 10.00
In Full Bloom - 13.00
It's a Date - 8.00
Lexicon of Love - 7.00
Little Layers II - 10.00
Little Pieces - 9.00
Love It - 10.00
Love Matters - 13.50
Love without End - 12.00
Love Ya Bunches - 9.00
Loving Hearts - 10.00
Mini Mates - 15.00
Mini Messages - 8.00
Mostly Flowers - 6.00
Much Appreciated - 7.00
Nature's Secret - 14.00
Nice & Narrow - 11.00
Noteworthy - 9.00
Oh So Lovely - 7.00
Open for Trade - 16.00
Paint Prints - 9.00
Perennial Favorites - 6.00
Perfect Party - 13.00
Phrase Starters II - 10.00
Polka Dots & Paisley - 9.00
Polka Dots & Petals - 9.00
Print Pattern - 9.00
Provencal - 12.00
Quick & Cute - 8.00
Reverse Prints - 10.00
Sassy Sayings I - 10.00
Send a Celebration - 9.00
Shape-Ups - 6.00
Simple Sayings II - 10.00
Simple Somethings - 6.00
Simple Type Alphabet U & L - 18.00
Sketch an Event - 11.00
Sketch It - 18.00
Smorgaborders - 8.00
Snow Flurries - 5.50
Snowflakes - 11.00
So Much - 16.00
Soft Swirls - 8.50
Something Marvelous - 9.00
Sparkling Season - 10.00
Spring Garden - 13.00
Spring Solitude - 10.00
Stella Stamper - 15.00
Stippled Stencils - 6.00
Sweet of You - 10.00
Sweet on You - 5.00
Sweet Shapes - 13.00
Sweet Talk - 5.00
Tags & More - 10.00
Time Well Spent - 13.00
Tricky Treats - 9.00
Unfrogettable - 13.00
Weathered - 9.00
Wheel jumbo All About Birthdays - 4.25
Wheel jumbo All About Gratitude - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Basic Outline - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Fine Foliage - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Leaves a la Carte - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Petals - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Poinsettia - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Rough Texture - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Swirling Stars - 4.25
Wheel jumbo Woodcut Holly - 4.25
Wheel standard Acorns - 3.25
Wheel standard Blizzard - 3.00
Wheel standard Bloomin - 3.25
Wheel standard Blossoms & Bugs - 3.00
Wheel standard Busy Bees - 3.00
Wheel standard Daisy Field - 3.25
Wheel standard Garden Annuals - 3.25
Wheel standard Many Mittens - 3.25
Wheel standard Only Ornaments - 3.25
Wheel standard Pine Bough - 3.25
Wheel standard Solitude - 3.25
Wheel standard Wings & Things - 3.25
Winged Things - 11.00
Wishing You - 10.00
Word Search - 9.00
Year after Year - 15.50
You Make Me Happy - 13.00

Happy Stamping!

Fall Fest

2008-09-07T14:26:00.004-04:00

Well Fall Fest was great! I had such a good time and it was wonderful to see some of my stamping buddies I don't get to see all the time. We learned some new technology and make a fanstatic scrapbook from the new 8.5x8.5 chipboard that is in the new Fall Collections Catalog. Hopefully I will be able to upload a picture of the front cover. Also some BIG NEWS! You'll be able to place orders from my website (http://www.cyndystamps.stampinup.net/)! I'm so excited! This has been a big step. Starting September 9 is the launch date. So if there is anything that you ever need and can't reach me, here ya go!

Stampin' Up! - Special Subscription Offer

2008-09-07T12:49:00.000-04:00

Stampin' Up! - Special Subscription Offer: "Customers: Subscribe to a year of Country Living for only $12 and get a FREE mini stamp kit! For just $1 an issue, you'll receive great craft projects, articles on collecting, makeover features, recipes and entertaining ideas-all delivered to your home each month. PLUS, Country Living will include the exclusive Stampin' Up! mini stamp kit. Use it to design note cards, menus and anything else that inspires you! Click here to subscribe."

Techniques

2008-09-03T11:53:00.006-04:00

Well I'm finally starting to post to this blog. It's been a bit rough going. I have no idea how this all works, so wish me luck!

I'm going to start with posting some pictures of my upcoming techniques class. These are 2 of the techniques I'll be teaching on September 9. I hold a technique class every month and do 2 or 3 different techniques. I'm surprising ahead of the game this month. I usually figure out what I'm going to do a few days before class, but I've been trying to put ideas aside so when it comes time, all I have to do is make my samples and print the directions. I hope you like them. The one with the trees is called "Glowing Images" and the one is called "Bandana". I got these ideas from a subscription I get called Technique Junkie. You can find this at Patstamps.com