Monday, November 21, 2011

tea cup hello

The wonderful thing about a great card is it works in any pattern/color pallet.  This card was from a design by Erica Cerwin.  I just love the tiny tea cup.  You sure can do a lot with it.  This card was sent to a new friend made while playing bunco.  I used the spice cake DSP and the colors within in of pool party, more mustard and instead of soft suede ...early espresso.  Thanks for stopping by.  come back tomorrow for more fun!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Suspicious Turkey

This is a hair clip I made with inspiration from the Stampin' Up! Demonstrators webpage.  Her name is Chasidy Mills.  She gave a basic measurement on the site but I had to alter to fit the size clip I had on hand.
Make sure you use fabritack glue---it is awesome for fabric and ribbon.  I also had seen another video on hair clips that recommended sealing the edges of the ribbon so it won't fray.  I did this by slightly melting the end with a lit candle.  I'm not a smoker so i didn't have a lighter.  I do have a kitchen torch but i didn't want to see how nice my insurance company would be when I told them I burned the house down making turkeys.
I've made 5 so far and may make a few more they are so easy and just darn cute.  If you would like specific measurements just leave me a comment.
Make sure you come back tomorrow for a great card featuring the tiny teacup.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Button Worthy friend

You know buttons are really for special people and really special people get BIG buttons.  This card is for my college best friend's birthday.  I love the spice cake DSP and fabric sooo much.  The base is pool party with a soft suede panel embossed in vintage wallpaper EF.  The pool party button has some red line tape on it and a thin strip of spice cake fabric twisted and wrapped in a circle.  Top that off with a more mustard button.  The grosgrain ribbon is really old but looks great here.  The flower is 2 pieces of more mustard run through the fun flowers die and then separated/distressed.  Thanks for checking in with me today.  Check back in tomorrow for another fall project.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Free Downloads for MDS

I've had the My Digital Studio (MDS) program for about a year now.  I should use it more because I really like how easy it is and the results.  I started off paper crafting as a scrapbook-er and evolved into card making.  I still love to scrapbook but my favorite way to scrap is to go to a crop of a couple hours or more.  To keep sort of on top of things I use MDS.  This week (ends tomorrow 11/7) Stampin' Up! is giving away 4 great downloads.
Click here to get access tot hem after completing a short survey.  The minute I downloaded them I thought I would take a look at them close up which led to me doing a page.  This is my son 3 1/2 years ago...before he stated asking "why" to everything I say.
Thanks for stopping by to take a look.  I'll be working on a couple cards today so check back tomorrow or Tuesday.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Spice cake for Sissy

The Spice cake fabric from Stampin' Up! is so fantastic.  I have seen so many creative ideas with it that I am actually using it instead of hoarding it.  It will definitely be available while the Holiday Mini is current and I hope they will hold it over...wink...crossed fingers.  I had some thin strips cut for another project and found myself with a little left over...what to do with it...how about a dog collar.  I have a male Basset Hound and my folks have a female Westie.  She is the little princess and so I took a loose measurement of her neck and cut 2 pieces and placed them right sides together.  I tucked in a small length of thin elastic and sewed around the four sides leaving about a two inch opening on one of the long sides.  Turned it right side out and top stitched around the whole thing.  I gave it to my mom without the button and she sized it to Sissy and added the button.  I think it turned out great!  In the future I may make one a bit narrower.  Thanks for looking.  Come back tomorrow for a great My Digital Studio Page featuring their free downloads!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Thinking of You

This card was inspired by the monthly thank yous that Dawn sends her customers.  Her cards are usually 3 x 3 and so with a little imagination it's not too hard to expand them into a full size card.  This one goes out to my friend Gwen's mom Miss Betty who is recovering from knee replacement surgery.  I just checked out the Stampin Up only challenges and they are featuring Thinking of You cards.  The base is soft suede embossed with vintage wallpaper EF.  Then a layer of more mustard and pool party.  The pool party is dry embossed with the oval frame.  Inside is a piece of spice cake DSP.  I embellished further with crumb cake seam binding and a vintage brad.  Thanks for looking.  Come back tomorrow for a spice cake fabric project.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Happy Birthday Owen


My little man has a new best friend in pre-school.   They love to be silly together.  Owen's birthday was 2 weeks ago and we got invited to the party.  The idea for the card started with owls "O" for Owen and "O" for owls.  I cut a piece of Pacific Point at 4 x 10 1/2.  Scored at 4 and then 8 to give me a fold up pocket inside for a gift card to the bouncy place.  The DSP is retired from last year but I just love the colors and the number background.  I stamped the owls in 4 different colors since Owen was turning 4.  The card turned out so cute and I used it as the topper to a small puzzle I bought and wrapped in blue paper.  It eliminated a need for a bow...good on a boys present.  thanks for looking.  come back tomorrow...a non owl project I promise.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Trick or Treat bag

This bag was totally inspired by Heather Summers artisan award entry.  She made a baby quilt with the owl and it was precious.  To do my bag i started in MDS with and 8.5 x 11 blank page.  I added the owl punch body and enlarged it to about 80% of the page.  I made the color of him a light purple (just to help when I cut out later).  Then I added the owl vest and the largest eyes and enlarged them so they looked right on the body.
I printed that page out twice.  My muslin bag is from HL at 1.99.  The material I bought at Jo-Ann and Hancock just looking in there small squares for interesting black and orange material.  I used heat and bond on the roll and cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the owl body from the black.  I adhered the heat and bond to the wrong side of the fabric.  Then i used a staple to hold my pattern and fabric in place and cut around the owl body (don't staple on the body itself).  I then peeled off the paper of the heat and bond and ironed it to the bag.  repeat for owl chest.  I cut the whites of the eyes out of felt and then sewed a black 25 mm button and then used crystal effects to glue a 20 mm googlie eye to that.  I promise this took me less than 20 minutes.  i even cut 2 small circles from the leftover parts to heat and bond to the inside to cover up/secure my stitches.  I hope my little man will enjoy filling this up with treats on Monday night.  If you have any questions please email me at mikende@cox.net.  I'll be out of town but my hubby will be at home and can relay any messages.  Have fun....oh yeah the little pumpkin is what they decorated at preschool.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Hooty Treats


My Omaha BFF has a thing for owls.  Her son was a night owl when he was a baby and has the precious big round eyes so we started calling him Hooty.  For Halloween this year I wanted to send treats to Hooty and his 2 big sisters Camille and Livy.  I found these notebooks at Target.  2 for 1.00 in the dollar spot (love that place) and the drawstring bags were at Cost Plus World Market.  I knew I could put the owl from Warmest Wishes on the notebooks for the girls....sorry Jack you just get candy.  I love dressing up dollar finds.  Hope this brightens your day.  I have a cold so please forgive any ramblings due to medicine and lack of sleep.  Do come back tomorrow.  I know you'll love my trick or treat bag...if I take it to my mom's I have a feeling it might not make it home.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Glimmer Birthday

Hello!  I hope you've been enjoying some nice fall weather wherever you are.  Here in central Georgia we are finally seeing some 70's.  Moving here from Omaha makes me miss the fall color changes.  Although one year we were there we had a brief snow on the 10th of October.
This week was my birthday week.  I turned 39 on Monday.  Nope not afraid of 40 I really am 39.  My BFF from the Gulf Coast had a b-day also but I won't tell you her number (you can pay me later Gwen).  She absolutely fell in love with the glimmer brads when she and Barb visited me this summer.  I knew I wanted to get her some but try to figure a way to dress them up.  After freshly coming off the blog hop using Sweet Centers I had this idea.  I don't have the UP Up and Away set yet but it's on my wish list.  I do have the circus DSP which has a page of hot air balloons.  I added the Sweet Center and Sweet treat cup.  The "wish big" is to cover up an "uh-oh" and is from the Pennant Parade set.  The inside Happy Birthday is from Curly Cute.  If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comment section.
Leave a comment on this post for a chance at my blog hop candy.  My winner has still not come forward even after emailing her from her blog.  So I'm opening it up again.


Come back tomorrow.  I have a WHOLE bunch of super cute Halloween stuff to post.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Winner Annonced

Thanks so much to each of you who hopped along with us.  I am sorry to be late in announcing the blog candy winner.  The whole time the hop was going on we were out of town and I was doing everything by laptop on the road.  We are home now and as my laundry is going I entered the numbers into the random.org machine and came up with
JULES as the winner.

Please email me at mikende@cox.net to arrange for snail mail delivery of your designer buttons.
After I get some stuff put away I can't wait to show you some new fall and Halloween projects.
Stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Glitter Queen Hop day #3...the big finale

 Wow-I am amazed at all the great projects the Glitter Queens have posted.  I am so inspired and I hope you are too.  For the last day I have another project for each set Batty for You and Sweet Centers.



I love stamps I can make round and turn into spinner cards.  The spider is enhanced with "googlie eyes" and heat embossing.  I wanted to showcase also that you don't have to have Halloween themed paper to make a great Halloween card.  The bottom needed an extra something so I added an accent strip of black and tiny rich razzleberry circles and made them dimensional with crystal effects.
The card is a special fold to have a pocket to hold another frostee certificate.  How perfect is the certificate-it's already rich razzleberry and pumpkin pie....wait...you think in SU colors too right?




So here is my favorite project and I might be a bit prejudiced that my cutie is the sweetest pumpkin in the patch.  I've made a couple of these mini scrapbooks and they always are quick,easy and cute.  Using the scallop square die I cut the front and back out of the thicker cardboard that comes with the DSP packs.  They are covered with Frightful Sight DSP.  The interior pages are just single sheets of CS.  I used a retired jumbo eyelet and a book ring to keep it all together.  The front is secured FOREVER to hold in the SU microbeads.  So in this case the Sweet Center is a scrapbook accent.

I hope you've had as much fun hopping as we've had sharing our projects with you.  Now head on over to 
and see what more she has in store.  Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance at some awesome blog candy (see Sunday's post).  And if you've missed anyone along the way here is a list of all the talented bloggers hopping this time.
Happy Stamping!


Monday, October 10, 2011

Glitter Queen Hop Day #2


I hope you enjoyed all the projects from the first day.  I adore Greeting Card kids and I NEED Spooky Bingo Bits!  The projects for day 2 continue with Halloween projects using Batty for You and Sweet Centers.  The card above is another bookmark card using Batty.  The image is stamped in Lucky Limeade and popped up on dimensionals.  The sentiment is Happy Halloween from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I accented it with glimmer brads (love those).  The spider web embossing folder makes any color card stock look cute and spooky.

This next card is the most traditional use of the sweet centers set.  By popping up the center panel you can creating a sliding door to get the treats out without tearing the card.  Accents of Frightful Sights DSP and the embossing folder add a little extra interest.  I also heat embossed the image and colored in some of the figures.
Make sure you come back tomorrow...I've saved a really cute project for the last day.
Make sure you stop by and visit with all the Glitter Queens.
Your next stop is Dee
But if you lose your way here's a list of all the gals and their addresses.


Thanks for all your lovely comments.  Keep leaving them for a chance to win some fantastic blog candy.

If you're having trouble hopping....

Try two legs...ha ha.  I have received a few anxious emails that some of the links are not working correctly so here is the whole list with addresses too.
Start with Dawn.Then Dee.  Next is Joan.  after Joan please stop by BridgettStephanie,Jennifer,Cely,Tamara, Candice and last but not least Anji

I hope this fixes any gaps.  Be sure to check with us all again tomorrow and Wednesday.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Do you Boo?

Hi! Welcome to another round of blog hopping with the Glitter Queens.  Most likely you're visiting me first from Dawn's website.  She is our upline and a constant source of inspiration and support.  This time around we are featuring some fall holiday projects.  I'll be using 2 stamp sets for Halloween projects.  They are Batty for You and Sweet Centers.  I'll give more in depth measurements and directions after the hop is over but if you have any immediate needs please leave a comment.  Be sure to leave a comment also for a chance to win blog candy (see post below).
This first project is a door hanger.  If you have nice neighbors you might be familiar with being "boo-ed".  This door hanger features a sweet centers cup filled with orange tic-tacs.  The orange ribbon is currently on the clearance rack...which reminds me I need to get some more :).  The bottom medallion is from the frightful sight DSP.
Here is the back of the hanger.  The mechanism to pull it up and get the tic tacs out plus a pocket to hold an extra treat.   I picked up these certificates for a free frosty at Wendy's.  You get 10 certificates for a dollar.

My next project is a matchbook card featuring a jumbo paperclip bookmark.  I love making these bookmarks and they are great gifts for school friends if you are trying to stay away from giving out candy...or in my house you're afraid to buy too much candy ahead of time...I love little candy:)
Well I hope you've enjoyed this first day.  Please be sure to come back tomorrow for 2 more "spook-tacular" projects.  Be sure to leave a comment for your chance to get your hands on those fantastic big buttons.
Now make sure you head off to Dee's place and see what fabulous projects she has come up with.
If you lose your way make sure to stop by all the Glitter Queens



Are you ready to hop?


The Glitter Queens are at it again.  We are going to be hopping this Monday October 10th through Wednesday October 15th.  Please be sure to check back tomorrow morning as Dawn will start the hop and then a link will direct you here.  We will be featuring projects for Halloween, fall or Thanksgiving.  I'll have 2 projects each day featuring the stamp sets Batty for You and Sweet Centers.
Of course I'll be offering blog candy again.  Please be sure to visit each day and leave a comment for a chance to win the designer big buttons.  See you tomorrow.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Check out this sale!

Stampin' Up! has had a clearance rack for a while now and I have found some great bargains there!  In the past few days they have added lots of new and wonderfully priced items.  everything on there is retired but it is so worth it to look at-especially if you missed out on getting things when the catalog changed over in July.  I love all things pumpkin pie so I have my eye on getting some more ribbon.  In fact since they have put it back on the clearance rack I'll be using some of the pumpkin pie ribbon on my blog hop projects.
It is killing me to wait to show you what I've been working on :)  So stay tuned!  To access the clearance rack just click on my shop 24/7 button ans it will be a category on the left hand side.  Be sure to select "all" in the view window (instead of looking at 8 things at a time).  Have fun and happy bargain shopping!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Welcome new friends

Sorry for the long absence.  I was very busy getting ready to go to my first craft fair here in Georgia.  It was wonderful to meet some new friends.  Hopefully we will be able to get together soon for classes and workshops.
Since Saturday is World Card Making Day I have invited those I met at the fair to come over to make a card.  Here is one of the cards they will be able to make.  It uses the new Spice Cake Fabric.  I love the color combination of the more mustard and pool party.  I also used the stamps sets Hand Penned Holidays and French Foliage.  Now that the craft fair is behind me I can start to be more active in blogging again.  We are gearing up for another Glitter Queen Blog Hop in mid October so keep checking back for more information on that.  Have a great day!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

And the Winner is.....

I had 58 entries in my blog candy give away.  I used the random number generator and the lucky number was #15 which belongs to Christina.  I looked at her profile and saw her really cute blog http://wernstrumfamily.blogspot.com/.  Christina please email me at mikende@cox.net with your snail mail information and you'll soon have a new piece of jewelry.  Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by this week we had so much fun and hope to hop again.  Keep checking back for new ideas.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday Finale!

Wow...what a fantastic week.  We have had a Glitter Queen good time and I hope this is the first of many blog hops.  Your support has been amazing.  I've had more than 1800 visits and I even have followers...that's a first for me.  So today's project I worked on quite a while back.  It took several stages of cutting, pasting and drying but I decoupaged a flower pot with our beautiful DSP Berry Blossom.  I know you've seen me use it all week and I have to say..I still have a lot left.  I finished the pot with the lollipop candle from yesterday and made 2 new medallion flowers to go with it.  I think this is a great home dec idea.  Someone who was feeling well would love this more than real flowers.  Or it would be a great centerpiece at a shower.  Remember to leave a comment to be entered into my blog candy drawing and come back to see who the winner is.  Thanks so much and I hope we have inspired you to do some crafting this weekend.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Hop into Thursday

Hello! I'm so happy you've joined me again.  Today is the 4th day of our Glitter Queens Fall Blog Hop.  I can't wait to show you the project I have for tomorrow.  But for today I wanted to make a virtual "thank you" to all of you who have been visiting me.  This is a lollipop candle.  I used the fun flowers BIGZ die and cut out lucky limeade and calypso coral card stock.  The trick to these is finding tea lights in clear cups.  You use a lollipop stick and some sticky sheet cut in circles to adhere everything together.  I think with the addition of the ribbon it really looks like a flower with leaves.  To accompany it a 3 by 3 card using berry blossom DSP and some added dimension from an in color brad.  The thank you comes from teeny tiny wishes and is punched using the word window and then re-punched to keep it...short and sweet (sorry couldn't resist).

Thanks so much for looking.  Remember to leave a comment to be entered in a drawing to win the button bracelet as blog candy.  Don't forget to keep visiting the rest of the ladies as they are posting new projects also.

Dawn Griffith      www.dawnsstampingthoughts.net
Tracy Bradley        www.stampingwithtracy.blogspot.com
Eileen Cassisi           www.whatstheinkabout.blogspot.com
 Anji Clements         www.alteredscraps.blogspot.com

Candice Crawford          www.craftingelegance.com

Tamara Gadberry       www.papercraftingstamper.blogspot.com

Cely Havens             www.hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com

Jennifer Kay             http://txjennywren.blogspot.com

Stephanie Lorenz      www.stampedbystephanie.com

Bridgett Owens       www.stampingwithbridgett.blogspot.com                            
Joan Robertson         www.joansdailystampede.blogspot.com
Dee Slater                 www.createwithdee.typepad.com
Deidra Williamson     www.theplainsstamper.blogspot.com
Gina Wrona             www.ginawrona.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

GQ Hop day # 3

Welcome back everyone.  Sorry for the late post...lots going on today plus computer issues...ughh.  Anyway today's project was one made out of necessity.  Today when I picked my son up from preschool I noticed his teacher was a bit hoarse.  So I decided to make her a small get well gift that included some of my favorite tea.
Today I changed the colors up a bit-using pumpkin pie for the base and some retired DSP on the inside.  I used the bird again from the stamp set Best of Everything and the "made for you" comes from the same set.  I inked it in lucky limeade and then used a tip from Mary Fish of using the blender pen to take OFF color from a stamp and then colored in the words with the pumpkin pie marker.  The medallion on the front is from the Berry Blossom DSP and with an added button it is a nice touch for a 3D item.  I closed it up with some taffeta ribbon and a sentiment from teeny tiny wishes.



Our hop is continuing all week so keep visiting all of us and leave comments along the way for your chance to win some CANDY...including the candy at my stop the button bracelet.
In case you've missed anyone along the way here is a complete list of our Glitter Queens Hop.

Dawn Griffith      www.dawnsstampingthoughts.net
Tracy Bradley        www.stampingwithtracy.blogspot.com
Eileen Cassisi           www.whatstheinkabout.blogspot.com
 Anji Clements         www.alteredscraps.blogspot.com

Candice Crawford          www.craftingelegance.com

Tamara Gadberry       www.papercraftingstamper.blogspot.com

Cely Havens             www.hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com

Jennifer Kay             http://txjennywren.blogspot.com

Stephanie Lorenz      www.stampedbystephanie.com

Bridgett Owens       www.stampingwithbridgett.blogspot.com                            
Joan Robertson         www.joansdailystampede.blogspot.com
Dee Slater                 www.createwithdee.typepad.com
Deidra Williamson     www.theplainsstamper.blogspot.com
Gina Wrona             www.ginawrona.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Glitter Queen Hop Day #2

Wow...what an amazing response to our hop.  We are all so humbled by your generous compliments.  As a thank you I've decided to keep adding projects.  We're all still in order on the hop which means you probably have arrived here from Create with Dee.  I'll keep with the stamp set best of Everything and highlight the new in colors and Berry Blossom DSP.  Today's card was inspired by a great Mojo Monday layout several weeks ago.  It is so easy and uses scraps (a personal goal of mine).  The sentiment comes from teeny tiny wishes.  I've recently started to send cards to our church's shut ins and this one will hopefully brighten their day!  The base card is lucky limeade.  I pulled out my paper piercer to add a little extra and of course some dazzling diamonds.
Please come back tomorrow for another project and remember to leave a comment for a chance to win some blog candy.  Thanks for stopping by.  To keep hopping you'll leave me and head to Gina's.  Please see the post below for a complete list of our hopping spectacular glitter queens.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Welcome to our Hop!

I'm so glad you made it.  Hopefully you've arrived here from Dee Slater's blog.  That stocking die is going on my wish list!  If you've missed a stop along the way don't worry...I'll have a full list of our Glitter Queen's blogs at the end of this post.
My projects for the hop feature my new favorite set Best of Everything.  I have really enjoyed using it along with the new In Colors and the Berry Blossom Designer Series Paper.
This first card is so cute.  I love the little bird image.  The base is river rock and embossed with the dots embossing folder.  The branch image is actually on the inside of the card cut with the 1 3/4" punch.  The two strips of DSP at the bottom were just scraps but really add a nice touch.  It is finished off with the in color ribbon in pool party and the in color brads (pool party and calypso coral).
This card uses 4 stamps from the set.  Both flowers, the branch and the sentiment "friendship is a great place...i'm glad we're here".  For all the lovely detail just click on the picture to make it larger.  The bird house is from a punch...can you guess which one?  It's the tag punch.  The calypso coral flower is popped up on a dimensional and of course...for Dawn...it has dazzling diamonds on it.

This card came as inspiration from a card I saw on the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website. Thanks Linda Heller. What a great resource and just one of the reasons I am so happy I became a demo.
This cute little strawberry is another image in this set of 10 stamps.  Of course it is sparkly too!
My last project is one of my favorite things to do-3D projects.  This cute birdhouse was featured in the magazine every demonstrator gets...another great resource and perk!  I made it my own by using the scallop border punch and sponging the shingles.  I think this would be a very cute favor and you could make it to have one side of the roof open up.  It would be so cute with chocolate covered sunflower seeds in a little bag.
Now onto the super fun part.....BLOG CANDY!
Please be sure to leave a comment now through the end of our hop on Friday September 9th, 2011.  I'll randomly select a winner on Saturday the 10th.  The winner will get...this button bracelet.
It is made from Stampin' Up! buttons.  Please be sure to visit all the blogs in our hop as most are giving candy away...and it's not even Halloween yet.  
I hope you'll hop on over to Gina's blog and see her beautiful creations. 
Again if you've missed anyone along the way..don't worry...here's a list of everyone:
Dawn Griffith      www.dawnsstampingthoughts.net
Tracy Bradley        www.stampingwithtracy.blogspot.com
Eileen Cassisi           www.whatstheinkabout.blogspot.com
 Anji Clements         www.alteredscraps.blogspot.com

Candice Crawford          www.craftingelegance.com

Tamara Gadberry       www.papercraftingstamper.blogspot.com

Cely Havens             www.hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com

Jennifer Kay             http://txjennywren.blogspot.com

Stephanie Lorenz      www.stampedbystephanie.com

Bridgett Owens       www.stampingwithbridgett.blogspot.com                            
Joan Robertson         www.joansdailystampede.blogspot.com
Dee Slater                 www.createwithdee.typepad.com
Deidra Williamson     www.theplainsstamper.blogspot.com
Gina Wrona             www.ginawrona.blogspot.com

Thanks for hopping in...hope to see you again soon.
If anything today catches your eye and you "have to have it" please click my shop 24/7 button.  Items ordered are sent directly to you from Stampin' Up!