Friday, December 28, 2007

To Flock or Not to Flock, that is the question...

Ok, this is really more of a product review for the Glue Pad vs. Zig 2 Way Glue Pen more than flocking.


But just want to let you know what started it all was because I was not able to put Fun Flock on my cards successfully, that that started me down this path. (For those of you who don't know what Fun Flock is, skip down, I'll explain.)

So, just for a test run. I had tried using the Glue Pad to flock, but to no avail. So, I decided to put glitter on it instead. By just glancing at the image (it's a tad out of focus ~ another story later), the left one is stamped w/ the Glue Pad and the right one is stamped with regular ink and then filled in w/ the Zig 2-way glue pen.


As you can see, the stamped image with the stamp pad is very light, compared to the image used the 2-way glue pen. Now, I will say, it's really a tad of unfair comparison because one is stamped w/ the ink pad and then sprinkled glitter on it. The other is stamped, filled w/ glue, then sprinkle glitter on. So, naturally, the area expose to glue is more on the latter than the former, BUT! I'm thinking, if you tell me your ink pad will glue things, I'm thinking that would be the case.

So, on to flocking... In case you haven't seen these before, apparently this craft phenomenon was from the 70s/80s (?), and now making a come back. It's great if you use flock to be the little bears body, or the bunny's tail. I'm just in love w/ the flocking idea. I think that was even solidified by my Flock & Foil kit. I just love the feeling of it, it's fun. So, naturally, you'd think, why not give it a try, right? Hmmm...

So, this is the original image:

Thought I'd give you some ground of comparsion, and you won't look at the following picture wondering, what the...




So, here: I was over zealous and thought, I can just flock the entire inked area and expose the nice swirl as the image has to offer:

Urm... not so much. As you can see, alot of the flock kinda lumped together. That's the draw back, you can dump as much as you want, and press, the unfortunate part is that if they're stuck, you don't quite want to remove any lumps because it may be attached to some more fuzz. So, by you removing it, it will create a small 'bald spot', if you will.

Here's where I decided to instead flocking the entire thing, just do the opening parts of the image. So, it's the negative of the above image:
As you can see it turns out much better. Less lumpy, and while you don't get a clear, precise image, since it's fuss, that's kinda expected.

So, what have we learned? Well, while Glue Pad, indeed does not require heating like Palette does, it also doesn't have that 'strong' bond as one might thing. I have read tips on this where if you stamp your image and wait for 10 mins and try to bond whatever you're trying to stick, it may work better. That theory will be tested tonight. What is not shown was a Happy Birthday that I stamped and flocked and it stuck ok. It's thinner flock, and definitely not as clear as the image. But, in theory, it worked.

Glue pad, as many had said, really needs to be juiced up frequently. It's not a biggie though, since you don't have to heat it. I've read somewhere that people had used the back of a plastic spoon and 'message' the pad and kinda get the ink re-surface. I have no idea if that's any truth to it, just one small teaspoon will last a good while.

Meanwhile, the Zig 2-way glue pen works better, (as mentioned before, unfair comparison) you're practically putting glue directly onto the image, thus create a better chance of getting the flock to stick. So, I recommend that way of putting flock to your project. I've also read people put Elmer glue as well. Whatever works for you. The other thing was some people had suggested using Sakura's Quickie Glue Pen, that's not as good, because the glue dispense is so little that you either have to work quick or somehow apply more than what it can dispense in order to glue your flock. But, if you're doing that I vote for the Zig because they do have different dispense tips available.

Hope you enjoyed my review. The DH 'fixed' my camera as one of my Xmas gift, the problem is all my setting I had previously is all wonked out. So, some of the pics aren't as clear as it should be. We'll get working on that.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Santa is here!


Santa
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Merry Christmas!!!

Wishing you and your family a happy and joyous holiday! Hopefully Santa got you what you wanted. If not, there's always next year.

As a crafter, if you tell people you want gift cards to craft stores, that's the most practical. That way, they don't have to guess and you don't have to look disappointed when you ask for one thing and they give you another. Hahaha... not that it'd ever happened to me.

I've got an Everyday Stack by DCWV, gift cards to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Target. I love Target... I think those 3 places are one of those: I tell myself I only need one thing and $20+ later... what happened, type places.

Anyway, may you guys have a great one. Keep crafting!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Special dedication....

While both cards look seemingly similar, they mean greatly to me and the people they're going to. I know many crafters hate to make Sympathy cards. That's the last thing anybody wants to make. However, sadness is part of life, unfortunately. So, this is a mini dedication to them.



This card I made for my friend Dori, who was ever so anxious to find out recently that she's pregnant. They were sorta working on it, but not desparately or anything. They are just ready. As a matter of fact, they were going to tell the family about the news on Xmas day. However, Monday, when she went to the doctor, they can't find a heartbeat. That must be the most devastating thing one can get from the doctor. She was supposed to do something for me Sunday, and while she was trying to be responsible and tell me she can't make it, she also can't help herself and broke down. I received the news when I was at Target getting some Xmas stuff, and when she cried, I started to cry. I'm sure people at the store much thing something crazy is with me. So, I made that card for her.



This one is going to my friend Louise in Seattle. She lost her father last weekend. He had been sick for quite sometime, as a matter of fact they thought he wasn't going to make it till the end of the year when he found out he had cancer. During that time, his wife (my friend's mom) had left him for another guy. Her sister moved to another state, and alot of changes. Through it all, her dad put up a happy face and make sure to tell everyone that things will be ok. I really admire him for doing that. Because I know how my friend is distracted by his health, but he makes sure everyone keeps on going. As time gets near, she flew home to be by his side, and even then, he told her to go home. She did, and 36 hours later... well, you know. She had to turn around and go back.

My heart sank for both of them. Mainly because we are all the same age. Both scenario can easily be me that it happens to. I guess I've always think that nothing bad can happen to us, people our age, health. Not sure if some lesson is to be learned here, but for now, just grieving as they grief.

Supplies:
Cardstock by SU
Stamps by SU (Garden Silhouette, Warm Regards)
Ink by PearlEx Two Tone
*I tried to stamp the background to have some gold shimmering w/ the same image as the center image, but it looked too faint. However, when you stamp on the white CS it looks like the color the pad is supposed to be. :)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Santa baby


Santa baby
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Well, 5 more shopping days left till THE day... I hope everyone had their shopping done.

I took yesterday off from work just to do that. I had gotten them wrapped and all sorts of good stuff....

This is another stamp from InkyAntics, I just love their sassy Xmas girl. So, cool! I wish I have the lyrics to Santa Baby song in a stamp or rub on, that way, I can stick them all over the place. =D

Anyway, have to go catch up on all the paper they put on my desk from yesterday...

Supplies:
Card, Ribbon, Rub-on by Making Memories
Stamp by Inky Antics
3D tree by K&Co.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Cat and snowman


Cat and snowman
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
I finally got my order from All That Scrap. Lemme tell you, I love the C.C. Design stuff... I'm not much of the the little people or the bugs, but the Lucky set and the Reindeer are my fav.

I saw alot of bloggers out there have this set, and just can't resist and have to get it. It's nice little set... now I'm trying to do something w/ the little sleigh ride the little pup has. Too cool.

Anyway, this is also a sketch I started in CSD forum. The whole thing is basically like a sketch that you make a card base off on, but since it's all words, it's up to the individual's interpretation. So instead of the visual sketches you've seen, which you can already interpret it to what you will. This kind is really up to whatever you visualize in your reading. It also require some good following skills, because it does have to go in certain layers, but since it's not complicated, whatever you fudge, it's fine too.

Supplies:
Card by SU
Patterned paper by DCWV
Ribbon by Michael's
3D embellishment by Target
Stamp by CC Designs

Friday, December 14, 2007

My Flocking story...


Brrrr
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
... So, as the story goes, I got my nice little Flock & Foil kit by Making Memories. Totally addicted to the easier way to flock than making a big mess everywhere w/ the Fun Flock.

You rub on a stickie image, then you flock over that with another sheet. As thrifty crafter goes, I save everything. So, I flocked my snowflake, and I thought, looks like I can get another use out of it. So, I saved it for another flock. And here's a tip from me to you... you know, you think you can reuse something... this is not one of them. If you'd used the flock once, don't re-use it. Because when you do, and you try to flock a new flake w/ a used flock-sheet, it will have the pattern from before onto the new adhesive area. Some, I must admit looked cool. But that was not the effect I was going for.

So, bottomline, don't reuse, just do it normal. Nonetheless, I enjoy the flocked part of the card, and it was fun to play with. And I realize now, Glue Pad is also your friend if you were to do Fun Flock. Just take my word for it. Other 'cost-saving' ways just too much work for something that is supposed to be nice a fun.

Anyway, another packed weekend for us, hope you have a good one!

Supplies;
Card by SU
Patterned paper by DCWV
3D embellishment by Soft Spoken
Flock by Making Memories

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Thanks


Thanks
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This was intended to be a Thanksgiving themed card, but since here in Houston we don't technically have Fall. This kinda became a regular Thank You card. Ah well.

I got the paper from a set by SEI. I like the set just not that color in particular. But it turned out ok though... I think.

Anyway, got tons to do, so have to hop back to work. Work had blocked Blogger for me, so I'm doing it via Flickr, which actually is much easier than me pasting picture from one to the other. The only prob. is that I can only post one pic at a time. So, we'll have to find a go-around way... *sigh*

Other updates: still waiting for my stamp order from All That Scrap, Inky Antics & Scrapbook Goddness... just itching to get the new stamps.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper by SEI
Rubon by Target
Pumpkin by Art Gone Wild
Tag by MM

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Puppy


Puppy
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Sorry for being a slacker, but I was busy packing up, putting together the shelves and then unpacking. Sadly, even after we put the shelf together, I still need more space... that's just no good.

Took Monday off, since it's my mom's bday, we headed out to Outlet mall and just browsed. Well, we said browse, but I did a lot of damage. But that said, I am also done w/ Xmas shopping, so that's good!

Anyway, took a little break in between all that and made a couple of cards. All the new stamps are screaming at me to play w/ them. So, that's what I did. =D

This card, I've actually had the background pasted on the card for quite some time. I had wanted to use another Rubber Romance image on there. But the image itself is so big that it blocked off the cute pajamas on the background. Then, they released this girl w/ the puppy on their Esty shop, so guess what? That one went on there instead. It's simple, and clean.

Here's some enabler alert for you: Inky Antics is doing free shipping for the month of December. So, go get some cute girly stamps. Now I read on SCS that it does take a while for them to ship, so if you're in a hurry, this may not be the best option. But, hey who doesn't dig free shipping? ;-)

Next time I will post the embarrassing pictures of the craft area.... (maybe)

Supplies:
Card by DCWV
Patterned paper by Provo Craft
Stamp by Rubber Romance

Friday, December 7, 2007

Shopping gal



Can I just tell you all that I'm obessed w/ Rubber Romance? Well, I got this stamp a while back, but just now have time to play w/ it. I just love the shopping gal. She's so chic and wore that black mini nice and clean. I just LOVE her!
Well, as you can see, the left one is just the image colored in on top of patterned paper. Which btw, I love. The right one is more subdue, but shows off her shopping bags. I love the paper piecing technique. It's simple yet impressive. Definitely changes the way the image looks and feels. I was thinking about changing her dress and hat next. Pretty much the whole image would've been cut out by me and re-piece together.
Well, I'm prolly not going to do much cards for a week or two. Mainly because we got ourselves some bookshelves from Ikea, did I already tell you this? And I have to pack up my messy craft area and put up the shelves. It's going to be very interesting. Reason being, it's labor intensive. My hub has very short attention span. And I have alot of crap. I didn't even remember buying some of the stuff. I should do a before/after photo so you guys can see. But, I've already clear off one desk have another one to clean. Eeep! So, mean time, no playing for me.
Altho, timing is not very good in that I just got my Craft Secrets order, my other Rubber Romance order, and my cool witch from Terberco from Etsy. Not to tempt anybody but did you guys know that All that Scrap has a free shipping policy for any order over $10? I can't help myself and got the Little Bits Kits. Also, My Favorite Things raised their minimum order for free shipping to $40. Which is fine, I do that much damage each time I order anyhow. Otherwise, if you like Savvy stamps there is a 40% sale at Stampin' Treasures.
Ok, that's it. Hope that enabled you to buy some stamps to feed into this addictive habit hobby of ours. :)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Coffee


Coffee
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Here's the thing about crafting... don't do it while you're half awake. If you do, then something like this will happen to you.

You see, while you're in the half awake state, you think: this is themed, they go together. HOwever, when you are awake, you realize, what the???

This is what I did for MFTSC06 on SCS, I thought they go together. But now that I'm conscience, I'm thinking they should be on 2 separate cards... maybe I'll forward it to Stamping Critique.

The other thing that's going on right now, is that DH wanted me to clean my craft area... and yes it does need cleaning. BUT!!! We got some bookcases from Ikea that will definitely make my life easier. So... guess I need to get my butt moving...

Supplies:
Cardstock by DCWV
Wavy patterned paper by Basic Grey
Coffee paper by DCWV
Coffee cup stamp by Crafty Secrets
Woman & Coffee by MFT

Monday, December 3, 2007

Winter Chill


Winter Chill
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is to reflect the nice little cold front that made it thru Houston today. Trust me, the past 3 days has been in the 70s, it was mighty nice. I just love the 70s... makes me feel like I'm in Cali, and also make those brutal summers bearable. Frankly, as much as a 'cold front' we get, it's usually drop about 20 degrees. That's nothing coming from 80s & 70s. So, I cannot complain about cold, because it's nothing like up North. As a matter of fact, I know people will laugh at me for calling it 'cold' even. I do have my boots, my scraf, and my peacoat on. =D Fashion knows no weather, my friends.

Alright, quick and easy card for winter. I'm pretty much done w/ my Xmas/Holiday cards. I can't make any more... I've done so much that I'm practically giving them away. And I still have supplies to make more. In order not to temp myself, I've already packed up my Holiday stuff. It's stuffed up to the rim of the big paper boxes you get from work. So, those will be put up until Summer when I decided to A, start again, B, be brave enough to submit stuff for publication and stuff.

Right now, I have exciting news and a sad news. Exciting news, we went to Ikea and bought some awesome book cases, can't wait to get my craft area organized. However, that means I'll have to get my stuff packed up. Boo!!!

Sad news, my little camera finally said Auf Wiedersehen after many years of being a good camera it has been. I made some cards this weekend and was going to take some pics to share, but alas, it just went kaput. Very very sad. Maybe Santa will get me a camera, but not sure how I'm going to last thru the month with stuff to share... so, maybe I'll get it sooner? We'll see.

Supplies:
Card & Patterned paper by DCWV
3D embellishment by Soft Spoken
Rub on by Making Memories
Ribbon by Joann's Scrap Essentials

Friday, November 30, 2007

Sorry no card, :(

Man, I wish I have something to show you... but I don't...

excuse #1: it's year end at work, and it's kicking my butt. I had 4 conference call yesterday and by the time I got home, phbtttt, forget it.

excuse #2: still dealing w/ some fall out after one of the teams left... so not much mood for cards

excuse #3: I started to work on a card, and just haven't completed it... still need to make 4 more for a swap... so that needs to go first.

excuse #4: I think I'm coming down with something... great... now I have to be sick too? Dang!

Alright, I'll get working and get this whiny butt back to work and churn out some decent stuff to post here. :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

You, Light up my life...


Chadelier
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
... you make me whole...

Alright, I'll stop singing... but this stamp always makes me think of that song, and mind you that's not from my era!

This is a card that I made a while back. I just like the simplicity of it. But now, I'm having doubts like, this might be too plain. Hmm... maybe I'll send it over to Stamping Critique and solicit some opinions.

Have I told you about Stamping Critique yet? Well, it's Heather's brainchild which I happen to agree. The philosophy behind that blog is that alot of times, we are so encouraging with each other that we are also very polite. I'm sure there are cards here you'll be like, that's great but it can be better by doing (this). Well, that's the point of Stamping Critique.

There are a few of us on there right now, what we do (I think it's brave) is post our work and give constructive feedback. Nothing like smashing people or anything, but how to help each other to make it better. I'm loving that idea because I posted one card on there that's is very blah to me, and the ladies helped brainstorm with all sorts of options to make it better. So, I'm anxious to sit down and play with the card again incorporating what the others had inputted. I'm totally psyched! You guys should go check it out!

Alright gotta go back to work. :)

Supplies:
Stamps by Impress Rubber Stamps
Patterned Paper by AMM Coutour

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Ho Ho tree


Ho Ho tree
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is a quick and simple scrap card. I got my little hands on the Making Memories Foil/Flock kit, and just having a blast playing w/ them. It's essentially stickie on the rub on and you rub either the foil or the flock on there. I have to say for the foil, it will stick to something else as you lay it down. So be careful. And for the flock you have to rub extra hard.

This paper I saw at Paper Source a while back... it's just too pretty. It reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright, but then I have no clue what to do after that... so, background it is....

In other news, Rubber Romance is now on Etsy. This is an awesome uptick because while I don't mind calling my order in, they are not around the phone like an office business would, and I'm not exactly keen on faxing my credit card info because I work in an office setting. This way, they can load up stuff and I can buy it online and pay via Paypal. I'm all about that.

If you're going to check them out, you go to Etsy and type Rubber Romance, and all their stuff will come up. I made a nice little dent today... bad bad!

In other news, Crafty Secrets rolled out some new sets. And in celebrations for those new sets they're doing free shipping for any order over $35. I'm soooo into that, because I love their stuff.

One last enabler news, Eclectic Paperie is having a Cool Yule sale. There's alot of Xmas stuff that you know you want but have been holding off. This is the time to buy!

For forth and shop!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Swish tree


swish tree
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Hope everyone had a good Turkey day. Ate too much then shop too much towards Xmas. I promised myself I'm not going to get caught up w/ the craze, but since the weather cool down right before the holiday, it really puts you in the mood... Darn that weather. I blame the weather... ;P

Anyway, this is a card I had done for a swap. Since I have to make like 12, I decided to go w/ a simpler design. It's quick, fast, and easy.

I love swaps, don't get me wrong, but I never understood why am I making 12 when one of them is me. I know what I make and never understood why I'm sending the host my own and then get it back. *scratching head*

I kinda love my other 3 swap groups. One is just send two cards to two people on the list. One is assigned partners (so that's one on one), then my own group is 3 for 3. You send 3 cards and get 3 cards back. None of the 12 cards marathon stuff.

My dislike about making so many cards is truly because that's not how I work. I tend to make everything one of a kind. I don't like making the same thing twice. I do get bored. So, I can't really do the assembly line thing where you cut all your paper in one sitting, stamp all your stuff in another and so on. I like to see a finish product and then move on. The other thing that I dislike is that most of the materials I have is one of a kind, so once I used whatever it is, it's gone, done, no more. So, to make 12 of the same thing using the same embellishment, it's really trying on the materials.

That's why when I made this card, it's simple and easy to do. I have the paper, the ribbon and stamps are easy to do. Call it the Lazy-Girls way, but it works! ^_^

Friday, November 23, 2007

Happy Day after Thanksgiving!


Pie
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Don't know if you were one of the brave souls out that that brave the crowds, the parking lots, and the lines to go shopping at the crack of dawn. I did hear on the radio that some people scored some pretty good deals. Like $500 for a top of the line Vaio. Geesh!

So, what did everyone do for Thanksgiving? I hope you guys had a good time and stuffed to the rim.

I went over to the in-laws and basically watched them eat, then headed off to meet a friend and my mom to this restaurant, Gravitas. At first we thought it was a prix fixe menu. But, turn out you get everything they listed in the menu. OMG... talk about stuffed.... we had crabcake, a salad course, a veggie course (that's cooked stuff), cornbread, sweet potato, meat course, and dessert. Yes, that's alot of food.... Like I said, we thought it's you get to choose one form 3 or 4 pre-set meals. No, they brought out everything... oy!

Anyway, this is a pie of how thankful I am of all the yummy food, and how stuff I am... hope you guys had a great time too!

Supplies:
Patterend Paper by DCWV
3D embellishment by Joann's Essentials

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Shower invites


Shower invites
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
So this is what I've been busy with lately. I've made about 25 of these baby shower invites for a friend of mine. She's due in Feb and totally nonchalant about when her shower is going to be. We obviously didn't want to have her shower right around the holiday as that would be too much of a financial burden on the friends. And I also didn't want people cheating them of their Xmas pressies and just say they bought them stuff for the shower. (I know, silly.)

So, we pinned second weekend of Dec. Even then it's so hard to coordinate w/ everyone's calendars. Most of the friends are from the dancing circuit so trying to avoid competitions or other dance related event on the calendar is a chore to itself.

Anyway, we finally came to an agreement and I made the invites. Since we know it's a boy (gee, can't you tell?), I tried to use up my patterned cards from a box I bought a while ago. And since I just got my hot little hands on the MFT stamps... must... play... with... them...

Here's the final product! They all went out yesterday! Wohoo!

Anyway, wish you guys a Happy Turkey Day!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Chocolate


Chocolate
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Who doesn't like Chocolate? Well, guess you wouldn't if you're allergic. I remember going to school there's this kid that told me he's allergic to chocolate. I feel both sad and shocked at the same time. How can you be allergic to one of the finer pleasures in life. Yes, I was in 7th grade and knew what 'finer pleasures in life' is. Haha.

Anyway, I remember being in utter shocked. How can you be deprived of something so wonderful and so nice, and makes you all fuzzy inside? That's just astounding that can happen to someone. Granted, he didn't miss it, nor do I think he faked it. But just sad that he cannot experience something so wonderful.

No, if I can eat chocolate and be as skinny as this chick is, then I wouldn't mind it one bit. Growing up, my mom exposed to truffles, now that's sinful all to itself too. Oy... You know what they say, start them while they're young. LOL.

Ok, this is one of my favorite Rubber Romance stamps. She's what I wish my body can be and still eat chocolate without feeling guilty. How nice is that? BTW, have I told you people how much I like my Prismacolor??? I never regret buying them... they are so nice on the color bit... YUM!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: CTMH
Stamps by: Rubber Romance
3D sticker by: Jolee

Monday, November 19, 2007

Baby Card


Baby Card
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Gosh, I'm a total slacker. Actually, I'm not. There's some fire at work and then we went to Austin for a dancer's weekend. Where we dance from 8 till midnight, then from 1a to 5a. I didn't go to any of the 1 thru 5a. Some because it was so late. Some because it's a different side of town and I know I'll be falling asleep doing all that driving. That said, I didn't do anything... maybe I'll get to catch up on Thursday.

This is a Baby card I made for a friend back a while. But, I love it, so it's on here. The little Giraffe is from Borders. You remember for a while they started to sell these neat 3D embellishments, then they hooked up w/ Papyrus to sell theirs full time. Well, when they were trying to get rid of the old stuff, I ransack their bins and that's where he came from. :) I love sales!

Supplies:
Baby stamps (at Michael's)
giraffe from Borders
Fancy Pants flowers

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Pay it forward...

I actually saw this at Jana's but she got it from Yvette.

1. Leave a comment here on my blog requesting to join in the pay it forward exchange.
2. The first three people to leave a comment agreeing to join in will recieve a handmade gift from me with in 365 days.
3. You pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I did sign up at Jana's and actually I've done one on LJ w/ some friends in Texas already. I've delivered 2 of my 3 people here. So, sign up, you never know what you'd gonna get. ;)

Xmas trees


Xmas trees
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is another out of the ordinary color scheme for Xmas. I mean, who said that Xmas has to be red and green? Hallmark? The rest of the commercialized industry?

Well, I just like to go against the grain sometimes... Trust me, I have alot of Xmas cards that are the traditional Red and Green. I actually did this card for some contest earlier the season. I just really like the color combo.

So, the 2 pies I made for work turned out great. I did a Shoo Fly Pie for DH's work, and then I did a Chocolate Puddle pie for my work. Sadly, I looked at the ensemble' and my awesome puddle pie is no match to some cheesecake out there. I would cry foul and say that those people cheated, but alas, I know that is not true. They baked it at home. *sigh* You guys don't understand, I don't bake or cook much. (Like I have the time.) So, for me to actually bake not one but 2 pies, that's like a giant feat. That's more than alot of people that sits around me at the cube farm. Hee hee...

Supplies:
Patterned paper & Rub on by 3Bugs in a Rug
Stamp by Paper Salon tree
Bling by Hero Arts

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Oh La la


Oh La la
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is an oldie but goodie. I got this set of paper from Target. I'm so excited that Target has more selection on paper crafts. Now, it's no Archivers but it helps that I'm doing normal errands and stop in to see what's on sell. I'm such a clearance fiend. If they have a red little sticker, I'm so there.

This was no exception. This is a K&CO. line that is call K. Marcella (sp?). I just love the combo. It's girlie, and cute and it's the Brown & Pink combo. OMG, I just cannot resist.

Tonight I need to bake a couple of pies for tomorrow's Thanksgiving Luncheon. One for me and one for DH's work. Right now, on taps are Shoo Fly Pie (no apple pan dowdy ~ if you know the song) & Chocolate Puddle Pie, which is more like a brownie inside the pie crust. Pretty awesome. Those are some of my finds this weekend when I went to the Nutcracker Market. YUM!

Supplies:
card by DCWV Spring Kit, papers & rubon by K Marcella

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Thank you


Thank you
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Quick thank you cards are my fav. It's effortless and come together nicely. I actually have versions that are veritical, but thought I'd play w/ the horizontals too.

I'm just so drawn to brown lately. Doesn't matter what the opposing color is, it'll go w/ brown. If not, I'll make it.

Gosh, I've been so swamp w/ everything that haven't been able to sit down and really play and play w/ some sketches. This weekend we're going to Austin, that's going to be fun, it's a dancing weekend and the schedule is crazy. We dance from 8p till midnight, then 1a-5a. During the day we're sleeping or sightseeing, then we do it all over again. Of course, I'm going to hit some craft stores while I"m there. There's not any LSS around but there are Scrapbook stores around that has more than I can find around here. Hopefully have more time soon. So... need to take a breather.

Monday, November 12, 2007

CSD Sketch#3


DSC03004.JPG
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is an attempt to do the sketch posted on CSD. The only thing is that I felt this is a tad bland. This is a card my mom asked me to make. And I find it difficult to make something very generic. This is for her friend's birthday, I don't know that person very well, so I think that made it even more difficult.

Usually, I know my friends, if they're goofy, serious, or diva. That I can do, but generic is hard. I mean, who knows, for all I know this person might hate green. And here's this green card. Oy.

Maybe I'm just thinking too much about this.

Well, as alot of people in the craftland and blogland are enjoying their 3 day weekend. I'm here at work toiling away. We don't get Columbus Day, Lincoln's Bday, barely got MLK day. We're lame like that. I mean, we have to work the day after Thanksgiving and the day before Christmas. You can forget about Day after Xmas and New Years Eve. *sigh* so sad.

Supplies:
Cardstock by SU
Patterned paper & adhesive cardstock by DCWV
Ribbon by SU
Stamp by Inkadinkado
Embellishment by Paper Source

Friday, November 9, 2007

Fa lalalala


Fa lalalala
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
You know, every time I see or hear anything that is Fa la la, it always reminds me of The Christmas Story, where the family sat at the Chinese restaurant and they sang on top of their lungs, Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra. Just so funny.

Anyway, this is a scrap card, always what I think it's my lazy way of getting a card done fast. It's cute and shimmery. I love shimmer, not so much on my clothes, but love it on cards, which will evidently end up on my clothes. Go figure.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper by DCWV
Stickers by Jolee

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Shower Time v.2


Shower Time
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is a prototype of a shower card I was playing around. It was a second draft because the first one I put some present at the bottom like a border and after I colored them in, I just hated it.

So, this is more what I had in mind. That it's raining baby-related presents. And in case you can't tell, it's going to be a boy, they've already named him Gavin. So, we know that Gavin is a soccer-kickin-son-of-a-gun. Which is ironic because the mother is a dancer, competitive West Coast & Western dancer. The father is a quite lawyer type. So, for a little boy kicking around in her tummy that's just funny.

Anyway, as I said this is a prototype, I ended up using the stamp but ended up w/ different card design because I had to mass produce it for the shower party. Which apparently we have over 40 people on the list. So, that's another time for me to show you those.

Supplies:
Stamps by MFT
Patterned Paper by SU

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Eternity


Eternity
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
So this is the card I ended up giving the bride & groom to be at the couple's shower. It's also based on something else. While I was at Bed Bath & Beyond waiting for them to wrap the presents, I was browsing thru their cards selection. And one of them only has a tattoo just similar like this and instead of Eternity, it said Love on it. Just that on a white background, nothing else.

Well, I tried to duplicate it and then use the rub-on that came w/ this set and rub LOVE on it. Except that blonde that I am, sometimes, I misspelled it. Of course, immediately noticed it as soon as I was done rubbing it on the card. So, I just cut the card up and cut the 'tattooed' portion out and just pasted it on another piece of patterned paper from the set.

I actually liked it better this way, makes me feel less plain as the original card design was. And it just highlights the hearts and eternity. Mind you that I'm never much of a tattoo person, but this set was so well designed that I couldn't resist and bought the kit set. And I basically drew the line at the skull bit. That's just waaaaay out of my comfort zone there. Pretty drawings and color combo I can handle, the likeness of tattoo I can handle, but skulls... urm... no! The inside I just wrote: May you love last an eternity... like the tattoo. Thought that was cutesy.

That's ok since the shower was boring, we left as soon as the couple opened our present. I know that's a tad tacky, but to be honest, we did have a class to go teach, so that's our legit reason. But the couple had invited friends from all groups involve in their lives. Her church group of friends didn't want to mingle during the icebreaker game, which totally set off the mood for the rest of the afternoon. Ah well, such as life!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Wedding shower






Well, I made this card for a friend's shower and ended up going with another one (which I will post tomorrow). But I thought this card was interesting because it's a slider...

Ok, ok, I'll fess up, I actually saw a similar card at Bed, Bath & Beyond when I was getting the shower gift. I'm sure you're like me where you think: Ppsh, I can do it myself and better. Well, not sure about the better part, but yes I can do it.

It's pretty simple, and I may do a tutorial later, but this is a prototype for sure. Why I say that is because I would've done the skirt shorter so it only show the patterned paper instead of part of the back cardstock. And I may have done it w/ a lighter color cardstock instead of the dark one.

Anyway, so, here it is. You can see that I had punched a little tab for people to pull out. And they can write on the back of the pulled out card. :) Just a little somethin'.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: CTMH
Stamp: Rubber Romance
3D embellishment: Sakura
Sticker: K&CO.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Happy Xmas -CSDSC02


Happy Xmas -CSDSC02
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
So, I did this from a sketch challenge on Card Studio Designs. Go check them out: www.cardstudiodesigns.com. They do have an awesome forum, fun people, friendly and welcoming ladies. Sadly the forum hates me. No, no, not the people on the forum, the forum itself hates me. They have been having issues and what nots, which is understandable. When you get popular overnight, the traffic load is higher than the server is used to handling (as compare to SCS). So, I'm like, ok, I'll be patient little grasshopper. Then, I would go back and check, and it will hang. If I were to try to look into a topic, it will hang, try to respond, it will hang. Try to post something, oy to the vey, you can forget about it. Geesh. I finally gave up...

When I'm stress at work and trying to goof off and it's not letting me, instead of it adding more stress to my already stressed brain, I'd say forget it. I'll come back to it later. Which is sad, because they do have fun topics and silly games that take my mind off of things around my desk (say o' payroll or something). *sigh*

Anyway, this is a card I did for their sketch challenge. (Already told you that I know). I'd give you a link to what the other's have done, if I can get there... but, if not, you can try and check them out. Enjoy!

Supplies:
Card by CK
Patterned Paper by DCWV
Bear tag by K&CO.
Stamp by MSE

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Thanks a latte


Thanks a latte
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
You know, I just love this set. it's clean simple, and nice. Have you guys checked out MFT newest release yet? Their sentiment set fits within the word punch. I'm lovin' it!

I'm all about the piecing technique, it's so cool.

Ok, I know this is uber short, but gotta run.

Supplies:
Card and cardstocks by Stampin' Up
All stamps by My Favorite Things
Ribbon from scrap
Patterned paper by Autumn Leaves

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Shower Time


DSC02996.JPG
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
This is a sketch challenge on SCS. I am loving the Member Companies section of the forum. This is for MFT

Did you all know that they are rolling out 3 more new sets tomorrow? OMG, I swear, I'm going broke just to buy their stamps. Nah, but they do have really good clear, sharp images. On top of that, it's very chic and very updated to today's time.

Anyway, don't just sit there, go over to SCS now and check out their forum. It's da bomb!

Supplies:
Cardstock: SU
Patterned paper: Paper Salon
Stamp: Shower Time

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Uh-oh, I'm tagged

I've been tagged Estivalia over at Paper Leisure.

What we do is list out 10, 20 and 30 years ago and tell what we were doing at that time. Then you “tag” some other bloggers and go back and comment on Relevant and let her know.

10 years ago… Hmm... I had turned 21, so prolly been drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow.

20 years ago… Well, guess that'll make me 11, so prolly in school. I didn't have much interesting things happening at that time.

30 years ago… Haha, I was literally a baby then, so I'm guessing I was crawling around. that's funny...

So, I tag…

* Linda SS
* Wife2TJ
* Andrea

Hope the girls play along

Stockings


Stockings
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Man, CardStudioDesigns.com is down and now I have to work. Boooo! Actually, I've been lurking alot on SCS too. Wish I'm home to play w/ the new sketches and techniques that are posted. The ladies are so talented. Gosh, wish I have the time.

Anyway, I'm just happily chucking along here, just got my review done yesterday. I hate the first part because they want you to do a self-evaluation. I hate that part of the process because they want you to say things (good/bad) about yourself. Well, nobody wants to point out their faults, that's just bad marketing all around. But on the flip side, I can't just say that I've worked my butt off and I'm the rockstar of the group, give me a raise. So, that's the hardest part.

The second part is a sit-down w/ my boss, that part I'm ok with. I like her, and she and I have been working together for a while now. So, my official review is like a chat w/ a friend. So, that's cool. Basically, I came out unscathe, not that I expected anything but still you never know.

Anyway, I'm in such a good mood that I'm sharing another holiday card with you. This is made w/ the Making Memories Flock & Foil kit. Here's my thing w/ that, I love it, but it does get sticky and I do mean sticky. But, the outcome is awesome. You should totally try it.

Supplies:
Card by Making Memories
Patterned paper by DCWV
Rubons by Making Memories
Embellishments by Jolee

Monday, October 29, 2007

Playing Snowman


Playing Snowman
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Sorry guys, been a slacker again. Hee hee...

Well, actually, I'm working on 25 baby shower invite, so I'm a tad tied up. I've been wanting to throw a party, and asked my friend who's preggers if she wants a baby shower. She took me up on it, and now I'm working on the shower invite. I'm not going to get fancy w/ the food and stuff where I've seen some talented ladies would so the name frames or put a cute little cupcake tag for the cupcakes. I am taking it upon myself to do the games, but it'll be simple. Like guess the jellybean stuff or anagrams.

The main thing about doing invite is that I do get bored after one design. That's why I don't mass produce Xmas cards. I don't have the patient for it and I do get bored easily. One year, I remember I would stamp and emboss all the images one day, then color the week later, then add embellishment a week later. I get bored doing it that way. Guess I just like the creativity of the process rather than the product. Plus, some of the cards I like, I use up the supplies and make mass producing hard to do.

That said, I do alot of scrap cards if I need mass quantity in a short time and still create. It's fast and definitely cute. Alot of cute stuff aren't available on stamps so this is a pretty good solution.

So, this is Mr. Snowman goofing off. You wouldn't believe that most of the supplies here, I got from last Xmas clearance from various stores. I'd say some of the stuff I got for like 50 cents, and some for a dollar. But either way, this card doesn't cost as much as it could've been. I just love a bargain, what can I say. ;)

Supplies:
Card and patterned paper by DCWV
Snowman by Jolee
3D embellishemnt by Soft Spoken
Snow sticker by CK

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Trim the tree


Trim the tree
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Ha, more Xmas cards... I do plan on doing the MFT sketch challenge from SCS, just haven't got the time.

This is from a great set of cards at Paper Source. I think I score those at their warehouse sale, and since I went on Sunday they marked down the prices even more. Seriously, if you're ever in the Chicago area, that's where their warehouse is located, and if you can beat the elbows of anxious brides, you can pick up some pretty cool stuff.

That said, I go the card set from PS, was playing around w/ the birds. I contemplated on coloring the rest of the tree in, but also didn't want to overwhelm the card and myself with more color. It's pretty busy already. Don't you hate it sometimes you got a good basic sketch but you just can't stand it and wanted to add more to it. But by doing that, you just overwhelm the card, and go to the point of no return. That happens to me, especially I do so much DTP stamping that it can go to hades pretty quickly.

Anyway, that reminds me of a pottery painting that a bunch of my friends and I do. And one friend is truly artistic. She started painting a very pretty bowl but after hearing some bad news totally ruined it. So, we called it the Tempest bowl, nice on one side, not so much on the other.

That said, this is one of the ones hopefully not too overwhelming but still cute. I did colored in the birds to make them BlueBirds, but because the green cardstock has texture on it; it looks a little faint. But you get the point.

Supplies:
Card by Paper Source
Background stamp by Stampendous
Tree & birds stamps by Hero Arts
Ornament by Jolee
Rub-on by Making Memories

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Drum roll please...

... *brum, rum, rum*....

Thank you to everyone for playing. Hope to offer more goodies soon and play again.

Ok without further adieu...

The winner is....

Jan Scholl, her guess: my guess is 666. I get over 2000 a day, so hopefully you are not in the crazy place I am.

The correct answer was 671.

Yep, I had 671 emails from 3 days of leave. Crazy, I know, but I usually get about 60-90 overnight, and don't know how many I get throughout the day because I delete them as soon as I see them. Like a little zapper.

Congrats to Jan, and please email me your info.

Hopefully we'll play again soon!

Puppy


Puppy
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Alright, alright, I know you guys must be anxious to know who won... I will post the winner after 6p CST. It's all at home, and we do have one clear winner... I promise!

This is one of the cards I made during my mini hiatus. I swear I love this stamp soooo much. She's adorable and the puppy is too. No matter what, you look at them and you think: Winter. No doubt. I really need to use her more often, but there's so many Xmas stamps out there, so hard to choose...

Speaking of, I need to use my scallop punches more often too. Every since my Xmas box o' craft exploseded in my craft area, totally covered up the punches and not until I was shuffling stuff around that I see the box o' punches.... duh on me. I love it though, I can punch and punch all day. Everything frames better when they're in scallops, I swear.

Well, there's no bosses today thru Friday... so you know you what they say, Cats away, Mice come out to play. I have to say that I've gotten alot done and since I have a 200 pgs report, it's good to have some piece and quiet. Now if I can just get the IT guy out of my dept, he's not doing squat, I can do his job better than he can. That's just wrong in so many levels. Oy!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper by Reminisce
Stamp by Hampton Mara Mi
Ribbon by Joann's
Card by DCWV
Blue mulberry paper by Target

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Overfilled


Overfilled
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Sorry, gotta be short today, I have tons of paper to go thru before both of my bosses leave me here for the rest of the week...

Yep, already start on my Xmas card making extravaganza. This is one of them... It's just so cute, so many presents and it just about to topple off. I swear, secretly, I wish I have that many presents for Xmas. Haha...

Remember when you're little, it's not what you get but how many boxes you get? It's awesome. Of course, being an only child, that is not really an issue and not that I'm complaining. Now, I just want more time and money to feed my expensive hobby. :P

Supplies:
Card & Patterned Paper by DCWV
Ribbon by American Craft
Stamp by SU

Monday, October 22, 2007

Xmas tree


Couple
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
So, for those of you reading about the water situation... that was resolved at 2pm on Friday... which was over 7 hours of their estimate. The city suck! I hate them.

Good thing, I was ingenius and got a shower and went to work. Otherwise, no one was here to hold down the fort. Ok, it wasn't that dier, but I was the only licensed management and yes I needed to be here.

Anyway, busy weekend this past weekend, won't bore you w/ the details, hopefully, I'll have pics or vid to share (when my hub and friends will upload their stuff). We had a big dance, did a little performance, but will see if I can dug up any vid.

That said, here's a quickie card. I've been dying to use the stamps. This is my couple picking tree. I love the romantic factor of the card. I'm thinking that I want to go back and add some snow on the top of the trees.

However, I'm quite impressed w/ the snowflakes, that's from the Making Memories Flock & Foil kit. That's pretty neat.

Don't forget to scroll down to a couple of posts for some goodies I'm giving away. Deadline is Wednesday.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Candy, Candy everywhere...


DSC02954.JPG
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Yep, no water... still.

But here's the post about the candy.

Here's the goodies that I'm offering. 2 brads set (one is Fall, one is pink) , ribbon by Martha Stewart, a So Many Saying stamp set..

Just guess how many emails I got when I return work for being out for 3 days. The person guess the closest will win this fabulous prizes. :) Good luck!

Hooray for RAK & Blog Candy


RAK from Allison
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
You guys, did you see this... how cute is this card? I LOVE it! Just too cute. This is a RAK from Allison. What a wonderful mail day! That's so cool.

Here's the irony, the city once again shut down the water to work over night. While they promised it'll be back up and running by 5am, it's already 7am and it's not done. So, I'm waiting for the water to take a shower before heading off to work. (Prolly TMI, sorry. :P)

Alright onto the Blog Candy info: I had taken a few days off of work this week. Just so that I'm not going to lose 11 days of vacation this year, just forced myself to go on one. Here's how you can win (and I'll post the present in the next post (if the water doesn't come back on soon, I'll do it shortly).

Here's how you can win. If you guess how many emails I got when I went back to work, the closest person will win the goodies. (Here's a hint: it is more than 100) Post your answer here, and I will announce winner on Wednesday (10/24)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Sister & Chocolate


Sister & Chocolate
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
*Jump, Jump, Jump* Today is super mail day! The stamps I ordered from My Favorite Things came in today! Hooray!!!!

Been totally jealous seeing alot of ladies out there have their newest stamps. So, I finally go to play with them. This card, literally only took 10 mins. How awesome, is that?!

This is also a sketch challenge for MFT's Section on Splitcoast. This is so awesome! I really liked their stamps just because it's clean, neat, and chic.

Now, those of you who are familiar w/ their products know that the main stamp is for Think Pink benefitting Breast Cancer month. I just turned it into a chocolate thing. I know, not necessary what it was intended for, but hey, stamping has flexibility, right? Plus, did I mention it only took 10 mins to make this card?!

Anyway, stay tune, blog candy to come... I'll give out the info Friday!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

So, I saw this tutorial and just have to give it a try...




I think it worked out one better than the other... but it's true that you need a thimble as I didn't think that was necessary. Because by the time you started to pin thru 3 or 4 levels of paper, your thumb does hurt. And that thimble will help push the pin thru.

So, I'm basically done w/ the ornaments for a while... I've made 6 so far this year... I may do one more w/ the local musuem.

Monday, October 15, 2007

So, I got my Pottery Barn catalogue over the weekend. It was filled with things I want but cannot afford, until I got to this. Wait a minute, I thought, they are charging $6 for something I can make? That's outrageous...

So, I went to Hobby Lobby to get some styroform and off I work:


Don't look at them too close, they are still prototypes. The Blue one I thought they were using individual strips of ribbon, but I'd figured it's not true... so the Red one I use one continuous ribbon. The only problem is the ridges you get from the folds. But, I'll keep playing w/ them...

At some point, I'm thinking $6 is worth it.... hmmm....