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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

*What To Pack?*

I need your help!!! As you all know, I am a card maker, but I work in a Scrapbook Store. We are having a Staff "Crop" on May 9th and I really would love to do more than just pack up a bunch of stuff and bring it home at the end of the night having done nothing.

I am not good at this though. This is why I have conveniently offered to host the Cal-Gals until the end of time. I like having all of my stuff around me. This way I don't have to make any decisions until the card leads me where I need to be.

But this won't work for the Staff Crop!!!

I want to be productive. I want to have fun.

I just have no earthly idea what to pack.

I mean, I know that there are basics... but how do I move on?

I would LOVE to know how you pack for a crop.... do you just take a bunch of stuff and some colours of ink and cardstock and go for it? Do you plan and take only things that go together? Do you work on a specific project? Do you show up and spend your time just staring at your lovely supplies?

Help me out??

Leave a comment on this post with some tips for me to try... and as a reward, I'll draw for some awesome blog candy on May 4th.

Wanna know what the blog candy is?? How about a brand new, unused set of Classic Square Scallop Nestabilities (large)????

Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT: I should clarify a few things about my dilemma...
*I will be making cards, not layouts
*I can buy while I'm there but I'd rather not
*I know the basics to take (paper trimmer and other tools), but I'm wondering more about how to decide what out of my stash is important

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*Is It Really Spring?*

We've had a few nice days in a row now, am hoping that the snow doesn't make a reappearance here in Calgary. I know it's supposed to rain tomorrow.... while I'd rather have sunshine, rain is better than snow for sure!

I created the card for today in stages. First, it was the piece of patterned paper. It's a black and white piece by Imaginisce and I decided to try colouring the white flowers with my Copic Spica glitter markers. I didn't know that it would turn out as wonderfully as it did. What a great use for these beautiful markers. I have since taught a few classes at The Scrapbook Pantry and have had the ladies use the Marvy Twinklettes in the class... we are almost sold out!

After colouring on this scrap of patterned paper, it sat on my table for several weeks before I knew what I wanted to do with it. The base is a pearlized cardstock that I bought in my travels to BC last summer. I should have bought more than 1 sheet of each of the colours, but I guess since I'm just starting to use it now, it didn't really matter.

The image is by Stampabilities. It says "Once in a lifetime you meet someone who changes Everything".

I added a layer of purple under the patterned paper and some Dew Drops (water collection) along the bottom right of the card.

Thanks so much for popping by to look!


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Sunday, April 27, 2008

*End of the Weekend Already?*

Sigh, where do the weekends go? We had some beautiful weather in Calgary and most of the snow that fell over the last few weeks has gone. There is still some in our yard where the sun doesn't get a lot of "play time", but it will all soon be gone.

Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy much of the beautiful weather today as I was at a staff meeting at The Scrapbook Pantry. Always awesome catching up with everyone since I don't get the privilege to work with a variety of people since my hours are pretty set. In addition to finding out what's up at the store and learning how to use the Cricut a little better, we also had cake since it was Michelle's and Michelle's birthdays today. Gotta love a day with cake!

This is another card I created back when I my Mom was here in March. It was more of me playing with the Adirondak Inks and Peel-Offs stickers. I added a little ribbon to this and some Peel-Off sticker left overs as a little decoration in the corner.

Nothing spectacular, but I like it all the same.

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

*Finish The Sentence*

I saw this today on Jen's Blog and thought "why not"...

Finish the sentence...
Maybe I should but my hair... tired of it being always the same.
I love the smell of bread, baking in the oven.
People would say that I'm outgoing, but I only do what I do to cover up my shyness.
I don’t understand why there are so many stupid people out there.
When I wake up in the morning I always want to roll over and go back to sleep.
I lost the height war with Alex... I'm 5'2", he's 5'6".
Life is full of promise.
My past made me who I am today.
I get annoyed when stupid people.
Parties are always fun with the friends we hang out with!
I wish I had more self-confidence
Dogs are cuddly friends.
Cats can be awesome... depends on the cat.
Tomorrow I have a staff meeting at work.
I have low tolerance for stupd people (see a theme?)
I’m totally terrified of heights and of making wrong decisions.
I wonder why my kids don't seem to like each other.
Never in my life have I done drugs.
High school was great, but you couldn't pay me to go back.
When I’m nervous I joke.
One time at a family gathering I got a little drunk, was dancing and fell on my ass.
Take my advice: don't ever give up an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
Making my bed in the morning makes the bed more inviting at night.
I'm almost always second-guessing myself.
I’m addicted to a lot of things... email, french fries, diet Dr. Pepper to name a few
I want someone to help me learn to love myself.

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Friday, April 25, 2008

*Cool*




You Are Flip Flops



You are laid back and very friendly.

Cheery and sunny in disposition, you usually have something to smile about.



Style is important to you, as long as you can stay casual.

It takes a lot to get you to dress up!



You are a loyal and true person, though you can be a bit of a flake.

You tend to "play hooky" and blow off responsibilities a lot more than most people.



You should live: By the beach



You should work: At a casual up and coming company


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Thursday, April 24, 2008

*I'm Out Of Bed and Off The Couch*

Yup, it's true... I got up with the alarm this morning and went to work. It's the first time I've spent more than 60 minutes outside the house since Saturday. I had a tough time concentrating at work and am feeling pretty bagged right now, but I am glad I was back at it today.

Exciting day at work... the Spellbinders order arrived at The Scrapbook Pantry including Nestabilities!!! There isn't a lot of stock, but there's some great dies! I picked up the last shape I needed in the Classic size.... the rectangles. Been a good 10 days for Nestabilities for me as the circles and squares I ordered a month or more ago arrived too! I also came home with some beautiful patterned papers with some great sparkle in them by Best Creations. Beautiful!

I created this card back when Mom was visiting using the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #81. I needed to play a little with the Adirondak inks and the Blending Medium before a class I was teaching so I decided after I was done with the one technique to play with Polished Stone again. I did a few different quarter sheets and then put them aside. I decided that some of the Peel-Off Stickers would be perfect on top of these beautiful colours so off I went! I coloured over the leaves with a green marker.

What a quick and easy card to put together!

Items Used:
*Cardstock: White Glossy; Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Whisper White; Orchid Opulence
*Images: Stampin' Up A Beautiful Thing
*Ink: Stampin' Up! Orchid Opulence; Adirondak Wild Plum and Stream; gold reinker; Staedtler green marker
*Embellishments: Magenta Peel-Off Stickers

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

*My Stamping Space*

Good morning all... I'm still home from work, feeling better than I have been in the last several days, but I thought one more day of taking it easy would be better than pushing it today. I plan on being back at work tomorrow, if all goes well.

One of the YahooGroups I belong to (Canadian Cuttlebug Crew) has been active the last few days with members posting about their crafting spaces... so I figured my space was relatively clean so I might as well share some photos of my creative space.

I stamp in our unfinished basement. While it's not pretty (and can be a little cold in the middle of winter), I like that there is a space in the house that is pretty much mine. Company does not come down here unless they are coming to stamp with me. So, for the most part, I can leave my space as untidy as I need to during a project.

I don't like facing a wall when I stamp so I sit with my back facing a wall, with room in front of me for a friend. My chair is the black one in the background... the blue one in the foreground is considered the "good chair" and the reason the Cal-Gals all try to beat each other to my house each month.

I have two tables... my main stamping table was my father-in-laws kitchen table before he got a new one. It is very sturdy and a good size. I also have a folding table that works when I have more than one friend over to stamp but it's not as sturdy. It is usually home to my big Tonic Paper Trimmer and my Scor-Pal.

On the wall behind my chair you'll find a dowel attached to the wall for ribbon storage (spools) as well as a curtain rod to hold some of my punches. My Cuttlebug is on top of the paper storage under the ribbon and my Cuttlebug plates and dies and folders are in the top drawer of the card beside the 'bug.

Just to the right of these two Iris Carts you'll see a purple stand... not sure if you can see it in the photos but it says "Willy Wonka". My Mother in Law found this at a convenience store and they were getting rid of it so she used it for a while to hold pattern books. She was going to get rid of it so Bruce brought it home for me. It now holds all of my Christmas stamps. So nice to be able to leave them out year round rather than packing them back into a bin after I'm done my holiday stamping.

I have a TV and DVD player in my stamp space... it's not at a great angle for me to watch so I do more listening than watching when I am crafting. I'd love to be able to move it but that would require one of us going to the store and buying more cabling and well, that just hasn't happened yet.

Most of my often used tools are within arms reach of me.... there are a few tool caddys near me with markers, pencils, scissors, Xacto knives etc. The drawers behind my chair house a lot of tools like paper trimmers, layering tools etc.

My ink pads are all on the shelf above my chair on my right side. My Stampin' Up! sets are on the book shelf as well as all of my single stamps (which I don't have a lot of right now). I have all of my clear stamps and UM stamps in CD cases which are housed on the shelves as well.

Directly behind my chair you'll find a black crate filing system. I have all of my Stampin' Up colours on hanging files... two colours per folder... this is where my scraps are housed. I found when they were all thrown into a drawer, I never used them. This way a colour is always easy to find. I don't cut into a new piece of cardstock until I know I don't have an appropriate scrap.

So, that's a quick tour of my Creative Mess..... let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer!

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Sunday, April 20, 2008

*Two Challenges, Two Cards, One Post*

Good afternoon all... been a rotten weekend for me... I started feeling sick on Friday and by Friday night I had a fever, chills and body aches. Then I woke up with a nasty cough. Slept most of yesterday away, tried to spend some time with friends last night but faded fast. Another night of very little sleep and another morning/afternoon of coughing, fever and aches.

On Friday, I did manage to spend some time stamping before I started feeling really sick. I even managed to put together the prototype for some birth announcements I need to get done soon.

I wanted to share with you two cards I made on Friday for two different challenges.

This first card was made for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #44. I used some of the Stampin' Up! designer paper in Bashful Blue, an image by Clearly Inspired (from their Baby set), white ink and embossing powder, white eyelets and Whisper White and Bashful Blue cardstock.

The second card I created for Allison's AFSS#13. She challenged us last Sunday to use up some scraps in a card.... so I did! I used scraps from the card I made for Beate's Challenge... scraps that probably would have hit the garbage. Again I used Whisper White and Bashful Blue, but I added an image by Imaginisce, some markers in Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink, Waterfall and Pink Stickles and some bling to the centres of the flowers on the flip flops. I outlined some of the layers with a black marker.

Thanks to Allison and Beate for challenging me on Friday!

Now, I'm back to the couch...

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Friday, April 18, 2008

*Flashback Friday*

Happy Friday everyone.... I am enjoying a day off work (I don't work Fridays) and had planned to do nothing but craft... but then I had to run out to buy milk so I thought I'd stop at Starbucks too. Got home, started to craft and then my phone rang... Spence Diamonds to say that my ring is back from the shop. And since it's snowing pretty good and we're expecting up to 20cm by tomorrow afternoon, I figured I shouldn't waste time so I hopped in the car and drove to the south end to get my ring. Then I stopped at work (The Scrapbook Pantry) to pick up some stuff to use on the birth announcements I'm working on for a friend of mine. Then a quick stop to pick up take-out for Matthew, a traffic jam and now I am home. My plan for the rest of the afternoon is to craft, but my headache is turning into a migraine as we speak so I might be laying down instead. Sigh

And then, I look at the date and realize what today is.... and thus the reason for this card. Two years ago today was the last time I saw my Dad before the stroke that took his life. Mom and Dad had been here in Calgary for Easter and they flew home on April 18, 2006. I think I knew something was going to happen as I cried and cried and cried after they left. Dad had a stroke eight days later and we let him go 8 days after that.

I created this card in 2002 I think... and sent it to Dad for Father's Day. The cardstock is all shades of blue... I added some lines on the front of the bottom layer for some interest. I coloured the geckos (an image by Magenta) using my Radiant Pearls (can you still buy those???). I took a lot of time and care trying to blend my colours... I remember wanting the card to be great for my Dad.

I was, and still am I suppose, a Daddy's Girl... and while the pain has gotten easier with time, I miss him every day.

Here's a card for you, Daddy.... I love you and miss you...
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Thursday, April 17, 2008

*Where Did My Week Go?*

This week has just flown by! Here it is, already Thursday! I have a busy day ahead of me... I teach a class at the store at 10, work until 2:30, back to the store to teach again at 6. Could be a long day. But, the good news is that Friday is a day off for me each week so I'll have a day to relax tomorrow.

And, as it stands right now, I have *nothing* planned for tomorrow during the day. This is exciting as I plan on crafting for a good portion of the day! I need to make more cards. It's been too long since I've had enough time to stamp!

I created this card to send to my Mom for her birthday which was at the beginning of April. Unfortunately, I didn't write down all of the information to share with you. I can tell you that the card is brown, pink and white (another shock!). The pink layer is a pattern paper but I don't know who made it. The stamp is part of the Whirly Words set by Technique Tuesday. It says "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams".

Of course, most cards are not complete without a little BLING!

Have a Happy Thursdsay!
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

*Make A Wish*

Not much for chit chat today... grumpy girl on this side of the post.

Just a card to share with you today. I was playing around with some clear stamps to create a pinwheel sort of effect and came up with this... another pink and brown card (I know, shocking!)

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla
*Images: Studio G
*Ink: VersaMagic Pearlescent Orchid; Brilliance Coffee Bean
*Embellishments: Prima Flower, Dew Drops

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

*Happy 13th Birthday Alex*

This photo was taken 13 years ago today... a brand new, healthy baby boy named Alexander James Elrick. Look at all of that hair! He was such a sweet and quiet little boy....

Alex is about a week old in this photo with his (younger) Mommy... this is my Mom's favourite photo from this period.

Fast forward a few years to Alex's first day of school in 2002.... he was 7. This is him with his little brother Matthew... Matthew's first day of kindergarten. Still so little, but growing up...

And finally, a photo of Alex on his first day of Jr. High this past September.

I was going to take a photo of him today, but he wasn't keen on the idea. He looks a lot like he did in September, but he's a little taller now. In face, he's taller than me (not a big feat as I am only 5'2") and he is about the same height as his Dad (who is 5'6").

Happy 13th Birthday Alex... I love you!

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Friday, April 11, 2008

*Thanks Jen!!!*

A big thank you to Jen!!! As part of her blogging anniversary celebrations, she made me the signature you see blow!!!
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Thursday, April 10, 2008

*Snow Update*

You've GOT to be kidding me... it's still coming down out there. Apparently the south end of the city got hit with this first and has seen about 14cms of snow already (that's 5.5 inches). The north end of the city (where I live) is expected to get about the same before the system continues north.

I got to work and found a mini snowman on top of the garbage can in front of the store. I have a photo on my cell phone and will try to get it off there when I get home from work.

The city is a mess... Bruce started on his way to work and came home as the routes were so backed up. Not sure if he will work from home or just go in later.

Let's hear it for "spring" in Calgary!

*Soft Spring Colours*

It would appear that the only way I'm going to be seeing soft spring colours right now is to have them on my blog or in my stamp space. It is 0*C right now (the freezing mark) and instead of rain, we have a bit of snow falling. Well, not a bit. When I got up around 7, there was just barely a dusting of snow on the grass. But in the last hour, that has changed. My grass is currently white. It was brown yesterday.

My tulips are not yet poking out of the ground. The trees are not yet starting to bud. I figure we have at least a month before that stuff starts happening in our yard.

So a spring-flavoured card for you today.... I created this one during the March Meeting of the Cal-Gals. I've been so lack at doing blog posts lately that it's taking me a long time to get through the stash that I have made up. I have one left that I've photographed and a handful more still waiting to be captured digitally. I need to find time to PLAY in my stamp space soon! Maybe Saturday night while Alex has all his friends here for his birthday. They're going to be in the family room watching movies and playing with the Wii, so I might as well be in the basement trying to ignore them LOL

Back to the card... soft and cheerful... spring like... I started with the patterened paper and the Lizzie Anne Designs image and went from there.

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Regal Rose
*Patterned Paper: SEI
*Images: Lizzie Anne Designs Floral Frenzy
*Ink: Palette Noir; Stampin' Up Markers in Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Regal Rose
*Tools: small corner rounder
*Embellishments: Dew Drops

Sunday, April 06, 2008

*PaperTrey*

Happy Sunday everyone.... have had a good weekend. I did a little shopping at the mall yesterday afternoon, went out for wings and then back to play cards with good friends last night. So far today has been pretty lazy other than getting the ingredients into the bread maker to make Matthew cinnamon buns as I promised yesterday.

The Cal-Gals plus Diane had a good time on Friday night... well, I assume they did... I had a good time. We spent the first two hours chatting and sorting the mess of Dew Drops. We did pretty well I think.... the last two bottles had a few extra colours of baubles in them, but otherwise we did well. We were all happy to have them where they belonged. We then chatted, laughed, stamped and nibbled until about midnight. I created two cards, Shannon got a couple of cards done, Allison did some colouring (and left early... she was tired) and Tracy and Diane did some colouring too. I always enjoy having them come over to play!

I created this card a few weeks ago using my new PaperTreyInk set. I had seen so many beautiful cards done with this set that I just had to have it... then I got it and had no idea what I wanted to do with it. Typical for me.

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Regal Rose
*Images: PaperTreyInk Beautiful Blooms
*Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink
*Tools: Stampin' Up! tab punch; paper piercer
*Embelllishments: Bling

Friday, April 04, 2008

*Flashback Friday*

Good afternoon all.... bright and sunny here in Calgary... far away from spring flowers here, but it doesn't stop me from thinking about them!

I think I may be getting close to the end of my "Flashback Friday" posts. Sure, there are still a lot of cards I could share, but honestly, a lot of them aren't cards I really want to share with anyone now. Not that they're bad cards, just that my style has changed and grown and I don't think that the cards reflect me very well any longer.

We'll see, but this might be the last "Flashback Friday" for a while.....

I created this card in 2004. I had a vision of this card in my head, and unfortunately it didn't turn out the way it looked in my head. It's not a bad card in any way, but in my head it looked different... better... which means I was disappointed with it.

I look it at now, about 4 years later, and I think it needs "something". And I should have torn the edges instead of using the deckled edged scissors that I was addicted to during that part of my stamping life.

C'est La Vie!

The Cal Gals are coming over tonight to play... I think Shannon, Tracy and I will spend some time trying to sort our mess of Dew Drops... if that gets too tedious, there will be lots and lots of stamping! Maybe Allison will even remember to show up tonight!

Thursday, April 03, 2008

*Bright and Cheery*

Happy Thursday everyone! Thursday marks the end of my work-week, so Thursdays are almost as exciting as Fridays for me! I work at The Scrapbook Pantry today from 9:30 until 2:30 and then I'm back there to teach a 6pm class. A long day for me, but that's OK! Tomorrow is my day off!

The inspiration for this card came from the Junkitz paper that I had laying around. I thought that my Big Pieces set would go well with it. I'm not honestly sure that I am loving the end result, but it's not terrible.

I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #37 as my layout idea.

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla
*Patterned Paper: Junkitz
*Images: Stampin' Up! Big Pieces
*Ink: Stampin' Up! Pink Passion, Taken with Teal
*Tools: 1 3/8" Circle Punch
*Embellishments: Stickles

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

*Look At All Of The Pretty Colours*

Shannon, Tracy and I all signed up for the Dew Drop share that Jody Morrow was hosting. We decided to have them all shipped together to make life a little easier on Jody.

Little did we know...

Of the 60 bottles of Dew Drops that were shipped to me, 14 of them opened during shipping. The tops screwed right off of the little bottles! That's approximately 1750 Dew Drops at the bottom of the box!

The colours are all so pretty mixed up together in the bottom of the box... unfortunately since the Dew Drops are sold in a "collection" in each bottle, there really is no way for me to properly sort them out.

I so totally love the way they look in their individual bottles.... but I guess the good news is that they arrived and are usable.. just not as pretty on my shelf!


*Happy April Fools Day*

Good morning all. I had really hoped to come up with the perfect April Fools Joke to play on everyone today, but I will admit to not putting much time or effort into it.... so instead you get to find out that my almost-13-year-old son (who may not ever see another birthday again after this morning) got me good!

I have been starting my mornings with a smoothie lately. I got the smoothie maker out of the sink (where it has sat since yesterday morning after it was washed out), put the machine together and started pouring in the Crystal Lite... only to find that when Bruce washed it, he didn't close the spout. So the start of my day was grand with Crystal Lite all over the floor.

I cleaned that up and then put the yogurt in. I emptied the yogurt container so I took it to the sink to rinse it out before putting it in the recycling bin. I turned on the water and water sprayed all over the wall and kitchen window. I started to curse, thinking something was wrong with the handheld sprayer.... I turn off the water, grab the sprayer and find it wrapped in tape. Yup, the boy who may never see another birthday again cuz I might tickle him to death, taped the sprayer into the "on" position.

I wanted to be mad... but could only laugh

This was his first April Fools Prank... I'm so proud!!

Today you get a bright and cheerful spring card... maybe it will help to melt some of the 4" of snow we got on Sunday....

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Soft Sky
*Patterned Paper: SEI
*Images: Stampin' Up! In The Spotlight
*Ink: VersaMagic Pearlescent Orchid and Pearlescent Lavender
*Tools: Cuttlebug and Nestabilities
*Embellishments: Robin's Nest Dew Drops, grosgrain ribbon