Skipping Stones Design Sketch Tuesday

Hi all!

I’m back from the annual trek to Iowa to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It was quite the crazy trip this year as we had 11 adults, 5 kids under the age of 3, and 2 dogs at dinner this year. I’m surprised Mom’s house did not explode with the amount of crazy energy going on inside last week. LOL!

Tuesdays are Sketch Tuesday at Skipping Stones Design. My fellow “stamp tramps” (what Heather is calling her DT) and I will be sharing with you a sketch each Tuesday. At least once a month we will each hold a drawing for a free stamp set from Skipping Stones Design from those of you who make a card/layout based on a Skipping Stones Design sketch and preferably/hopefully an SSD stamp set.

Today’s sketch is from Kim Teasdale.

I just got the information this evening and have been out of town until very late last night, so here’s Angela Thomas' (I had originally posted that this was Kim's, my apologies to Angela) sample from the Skipping Stones Design blog. Check back on the Skipping Stones Design blog for Kim Teasdale's sketch.

I will be doing some crafting on Wednesday and will share what I come up with on Wednesday!

Please link back in the comments and share what you’ve done with this sketch.

Inky Smiles!

I'm Now a "Stamp Tramp"!

A while back I mentioned that Heather Timmins from Skipping Stones Design asked me to be on her Design Team. Well, now it's official. I am a "Stamp Tramp" (that's what Heather is calling her DT members.) for Skipping Stones Design!

My fellow Stamp Tramps are:

Amanda Gauer-Sewell
Angela Thomas


So what exactly is a Stamp Tramp? Glad you asked... here's the information from the SSD website. Don't worry, it's nothing naughty. Remember, while I am a little spunky and crazy at times, this is a G rated blog I run here.. :)

*Stamp Tramp: N :1a: a saucy girl who will do just about anything for stamps. 1b: one, who was born to stamp, but forced to work.

*Top Ten Signs You Might be a Stamp Tramp:

1. You are actually reading this top ten list.

2. Your husband lets you have all the stamps you can hide.

3. When people talk stamps, you don’t think postage.

4. Your fingers have ink on them right now.

5. You consider stamplifting “a crime of passion”.

6. You spill a little wine* on your cardstock and call it an “OFE” (Opportunity For Embellishment).

7. You leave your MIB (Man In Brown) little sticky notes like “Please hide the box under the bushes.”

8. You like getting dirty. (Think Ink)

9. You’ve mastered your stamp kissing technique.

10. You wash your hands “before” going to the bathroom ‘cause there are some places even Stamp Tramps don’t want glitter.

(* or Crystal Light since I don't drink or whatever your preferred beverage is.)


Do you have what it takes to be a Stamp Tramp? Heather is looking for more fun and spunky stampers to join her teamand a DT call will be going out soon on Splitcoast Stampers. She is also looking for a couple of sketch guest designers. SOOOOOOOOO, if you're interested and have some Stamp Tramp spunk simply visit the Stamp Tramp page and shoot her an email.

Come join us on this adventure and let's STAMP!

Inky Smiles!

A Little More Jewelry

It seems that I’ve got the jewelry bug.  I’m smitten with making handmade jewelry and trinkets.  Over the past week or so I have whipped up a few more necklaces and a bracelet and some charms (which I’m still working on tweaking a little).

Here are some photos of what I’ve been making.

Red & Gold – a gift for my grandmother (who doesn’t have a computer, so it’s safe to post) for Christmas.  I used FOUR strands of beads to braid together for this set.  Grandma likes chunkier necklaces and the four strands really made a huge difference.  I also wrapped the ends a little differently, using crimp beads to finish the ends off. I think it looks more professional.

 

Smokey – for my mom (who doesn’t ever read my blog cuz she’s too lazy and I email her things anyway… <--- her words) for Christmas.  I also need to make a matching bracelet and some earrings but I ran out of silver wire.

 

Pearly Pearls on Silver:  For yours truly because I looooove the pearls and silver wire.  I love how the silver wire has a brassy hue to it and coordinates nicely with the pearls.  I wore this to the symphony last Saturday night (Bravo Broadway) and to the Charity Ball we attended on Friday night. 

The pearls are my favorite of the bunch, but I also think I might make a red set for me.  I have a TON of red beads left. 

I purchased all of the supplies for these projects at various stores, Michaels, Roberts, and WalMart (red beads).  Handmade jewelry can be super cheap to make when you use coupons from each store.  I love it!

Well, I’m off to pack.  We’re headed to see my parents for Thanksgiving.  I hope to have some fun photos to blog when I get back.

~ Inky Smiles!

PS… don’t forget to link back on the Leftovers post for your chance to win something fun!

Leftovers

We’re coming up on one of the holidays that seems to have the BEST leftovers…  stuffing, turkey (or HAM in my case), mashed potatoes, rolls, and PIE… 

Often in papercrafting and scrapbooking we have TONS of leftovers.  Remember that Christmas album that you only used 75% of the entire kit to make?  Or that super cool Basic Grey pad that you used most of and have bits and pieces left, but the paper is so darn cute and you just love it and can’t throw it away… and Erin doesn’t currently have a Scrap My Scraps project going on….

Welll, my dear blog reading friends…. you must see this clip from Studio 5 (Salt Lake City)…

I am SOOOOO making some of those flowers!!!!  Fa-byoooooo-lush, dahling!

Thank you Sue Neal for inspiring me and helping refuel my mojo!

So here’s a challenge:  Pull out your scraps and make a project!!  It can be a card/set of cards/scrapbook page/altered object/

And since it’s really starting to feel like Christmas…..

Reward: Post it on your blog and then LINK BACK HERE in the comments section.  I will put all of the names in a hat and randomly draw a name on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30th.  You have just under two weeks to come up with something fun!  I have some fun ideas for a prize… and Maya Road is coming to mind….Hrmmmm…..whatever could it be?

~ Inky Smiles!

It’s Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

This year the “holiday” season has really snuck up on me and caught me off guard.  I am soo not ready!   Last night Brent and I went to the Payson Charity Ball/Holiday Ball – it’s a ball that gives Christmas to families in our area who would normally not have a Christmas.   The decorations were absolutely fabulous and festive and really got the wheels turning in my mind to get ready for Christmas!   Brent and I danced our feet off and had a blast!

This morning I woke up to a light blanket of snow on the ground at our house…  It was only about a half inch or so, but still.. it was white and covered everything.  We were supposed to put Christmas lights up on the house, but that didn’t happen because of the snow and the looming black clouds…   Brent and I ran some errands and did some grocery shopping up north of our town today.  I checked out some cool Christmas decorations at Rod Works and some fun Christmas schtuff at WalMart and was really starting to get ready to want to have Christmas up and going at our house.   When we got home this afternoon we had about 2 – 2.5 inches on the driveway and lawn.   Ay yi yi!

Anyway… remember I said in my last post that I met someone cool at the necklace class?  Well….  I was sitting there crocheting my never ending string of wire and picking up beads in the stitches and I told Brent’s aunt that I was totally bummed that I had missed Sue Neal’s (if you’re a Papercrafts reader you will recognize her name and fabulous artwork ‘cuz she’s all over the place in there) card class the month before.  WELL…. Tammy informed me that Sue is a REGULAR teacher for the Roberts stores and that she had another class coming up.  Made a mental note to check out the class bulletin boards and continued crocheting.  About ten minutes later guess who walked into the classroom?  Yup, you guessed it, Sue Neal.  HOW COOL IS THAT?  So we got to chatting and she showed us the poster for her next papercrafting class:

Guess where I will be on December 1st from 6-8 pm? LOL!  I am soooo super excited!  If any of you in the area want to go, shoot me an email and let me know and we can make it a girls night out! :)

~Inky Smiles!

Crocheted Jewelry

In my efforts to get back into crafting again (now that I am feeling better and HUMAN) I have decided to take a few classes here and there as I find interesting ones at the local craft stores.

Last night I went to Roberts craft for a fun jewelry class. We learned to make necklaces by crocheting wire and interweaving beads. It was so much fun! And… it was relatively easy. If you can crochet a single stitch chain from here to eternity you can crochet a necklace. :)

My husband’s aunt and cousin were there with me and it was loads of fun seeing how different everyone’s necklaces turned out. Tammy (aunt) did a necklace for one of her coworkers using a mix of smokey beads. It turned out gorgeous and I picked up the bead collection this evening to make one for someone for Christmas. Raette used a variety of “sea themed” beads and made a really fun big and chunky necklace. She works at a place called “Pirate Island” so it is perfect for her!

I chose a variety of shades and shapes of blue beads, silver findings, Swarovski crystals and silver 26 gauge wire. I don’t like how the 26 guage wire was a little difficult to work with, but loved the 26 gauge sterling silver wire that Tammy used, so I picked some of that up tonight, too.

Here’s my necklace:

I am down in my guest bathroom trying to snap a photo of the necklace while it’s on my neck. Not an easy task. Brent is still at work (it’s 7:30pm) and not around to help… and I’m too lazy to find my tripod. (Please ignore the fact that I have no eyes on… I think I rubbed them off during my INSANE day today at work. LOL!)

Zoomed in on a better mirror picture. That one bead on the right is a pain in the bootay. I had to twist the wire to get it to lay back properly after this photo.

The full necklace. I extended the chain so that it would fit better on my and lay where I wanted it to lay on my neck.

A close up of the bead and wire work.

This morning before I went to work I made a quick little ring to go with the necklace. I need to redo it because I twisted a couple of the end wires too much and they snapped at work and kept stabbing me in the finger while I typed. OUCH!

The basic idea of the necklace is making 3 strands of beaded, crocheted wire and then braiding them together.

If you can

* braid hair
* crochet a single chain from here to eternity
* choose 45-50 misc beads (I worked in extra beads)

You can create one of these! SO get to it!

Last night I Googled “crocheted necklaces” and found a GREAT video showing exactly how to make these. So, rather than re-do a whole tutorial, here’s a video courtesy of Auntie’s Beads for you:

Inky Smiles!

PS... and I met someone SUPER COOL at the Robert's store during my class...

Happy Veteran’s Day!

(My dad, Daniel Stieler, Army, Vietnam, living)

Today I am grateful for ALL those who have served and still serve in the various military branches of our GREAT country, especially my grandfather (Marines) and my father (Army). Without the service of these amazing veterans we would not have the wonderful freedoms that we have today.

God bless America & Happy Veteran's Day!

Never Leave You Hanging…

Today I have spent hours sorting out photos on my computer so that I can get ready to back up my entire computer to my EHD and then do some serious digital scrapbooking.

As I was sorting out photos I realized that I posted this sneak peak ages ago:

But I never got around to sharing the full card. Well, the full card went to my girlfriend, Judy, for her birthday a week or so ago.

Here’s the full card:

The inside reads:

“Bras are like friends, the good ones never leave you hanging.”

(Supplies used on my card are from various manufacturers: Rhinestones from Kaisercraft, CTMH Inks & paper, Archivers Paper, misc ribbon, MS Border Punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Quickutz Labels 1 die, Stampin' Up colored pencils & OMS, and stamps from Skipping Stones Design.)

I love this Funny Bras Volume 1 set from Skipping Stones Design. It’s absolutely cheeky and fabulous! AND… she has a second bra set available for purchase, too!

Here’s another fun card that my friend, Tammy, made one night while we were making cards at my place.

(Supplies are all CTMH from my CTMH days, except for the Bazzill pink ric rack.)

So hurry over and pick up your bra set from Skipping Stones Design! You know you’re going to love it!

Inky Smiles!

BONUS since you kept reading this far:

SALE Now through Sat Night Nov.14th Only: Buy 3 Pick One FREE Here's how it works... Buy any three stamp sets and pay for them. When you pay there will be an option to leave a note... In that section name the 4th stamp set that you would like for free, and it will be included in your order!

Go to www.skippingstonesdesign.com to place your order!