Mami Doodles For A Loved One - Challenge #42

Long week, quick card. Released a whole lot of work stress coloring these adorable fishy-faced cuties from Mami Doodled. Once I was done, I decided the card needed to be simple. I mounted the finished image on a white card base accented with a Red Spica traced scallop and the CUTE stamp from the American Crafts "Cute" stamp collection. (From my Simon Says Stamp card kit! Loving these kit clubs!) Polished off with a rounded corner, it's a simple little Valentine for my love!

Enjoy the card! Hopefully it will inspire some V-day ideas for all! And don't forget to play along at the Mami Doodles blog!

Waltzingmouse January Blog Party!

Welcome to my sweet submission! I made this special card for my husband using the Waltzingmouse Stamps from "Flourishes - Scallops and Dots".

I stamped the scallops in brilliance pearl white on black PTI cardstock, embossed it in clear, and then rubbed red metallic creams over the images. Then, for added fun, I sprinkled more embossing powder over the semi-wet/sticky metallic cream and embossed again for a grungy all over sheen. I used a sticker from the "Yours Truly" paper collection from Echo Park and layered it on a piece of pre-sponged pure poppy PTI cardstock. A trio of twine knots and "Viola!"

Thanks for joining me today, and make sure you check out the rest of the Waltzingmouse goodness on the blog.

Dear Cats, I win! - A tutorial

I have cats. I think that says a lot, but only to people who actually own cats. I never understood the oddities that cat owners had to deal with until I ended up with two of the little creatures in my home somewhere around 21. Don't get me wrong, they are fuzzy and cute, but mine are plotting to kill me. I even researched it and asked my vet. Look, it's been confirmed. I actually have scars from their attempts. Yet, I continue to let them mooch off of me for food and clean water. I'm a pushover, what can I say?
At the end of the day though, there are certain things that cats do that make me say @#$%^&! Point and case (and the reason for today's blog post) is the continual and utter destruction of the mini blinds. Fortunately, we won't have to pay to replace any sets that fall out of the windows, because the apartment people admit that they are cheap and just gave us new ones! (Hooray!) The cats caused this destruction though, and I'm not sure how to recycle vinyl blinds. So, I upcycled them. Booyah! I win! Ha! Cats 1, Me ∞! Details below:

The "I'm smarter than my cats" Mini Blind Basket

Step 1:
Gather your supplies. I used the broken blinds, a pair of scissors, double sided tape, a stapler, and ribbon.

(The photo shows only tape, but it was not strong enough to hold the corners together, hence the tiny attacher later in the photos.)

Step 2:
Cut the strings to take the blinds apart (this will vary based on your set of mini blinds) to get all the slats free.

Step 3:
Layout your "center" with 4 slats

Step 4:
Start weaving a flat panel and expand in each direction with the number of slats you desire. This will be your base when you are finished.

To determine my size I considered that I had 36 inch long slats and I wanted the box to be 5 inches tall. That meant that my base could only be up to 25 inches by 25 inches (36 inches - 5 inches for right - 5 inches for left - 1 inch clearance  = 25 inches) The box pictured is 6 inches wide by 14 inches long by 5 inches tall.

Step 5:
Create pieces that will be long enough to wrap all the way around the basket. My basket was 14 inches long by 6 inches wide meaning that my strips for weaving must be 40 inches long. I measured some 6 inch pieces to add to my 36 inch long slats to make 42 inches (because I really like having room for errors!)

Step 6:
Start turning the work vertical.

Take one end of the long slats and staple it in a corner.

Weave toward the next corner and gently turn everything 90 degrees (vertical), fasten with another staple. Be gentle with the slats as you move vertically, they will break if you crease them. Move around the basket carefully continuing to staple in each corner.

(You could use tape here, but it just didn't hold well for me.)

Step 7:
Weave around the basket, stapling the corners and anywhere else that needs stability, with your long slats. Repeat until it is the desired height.

Step 8:

Finish the edges. When you are done weaving you need to secure the edges. In normal basket weaving you fold the edges and tuck them inside. You can't fold these edges in the same way, but you can break them off, stapling them in place as you go.

Step 9:
Take the ribbon and cover the raw edge along the top. Use the tape to hold the ribbon in place.

Step 10:
Put something exciting but low-duty in the basket.

(It is not the strongest thing in the world, so I would not put something important in it and attach it to your bicycle!)  

Step 11: 

Revel in how much you just schooled your evil cats. I hear that kids can break blinds too... I hope you parents out there need diaper storage! I think this is is WAY cooler than throwing the broken blinds in the trash! Also, this is all that I have left...I think I need to make woven coasters.

Mami Doodles White on White - Challenge #41

Good morning friends! Hope all is well with you! I'm here to bring you another Mami Doodles card. This week I used the Ribbon Collection (which is quite a steal at less than 1 Euro!) for my image. The challenge was white on white (with a pop or color) and I took the challenge quite literally! Shimmer white on flat white, with an awesome ribbon image.

I know some people out there think it's really weird to use a digital ribbon image on a card. I however beg to differ. The idea is genius to me! Why? Because I mail a lot of cards home to my family in Montana and pass a bunch around the office. 2 things happen - with the mail service, since they are still using the Pony Express, the horses appreciate the lighter load...ok, just kidding. But seriously, no matter how awesome the envelope, USPS mangles all of my cards with dimension. Same thing happens at work. Every time I pass a dimensional card around the office, the first person takes it, smashes it open, and flattens it. I *cringe* and have actually taken to just passing around the card back and hiding the front in my desk. Of course all the lovely crafty folks I work with want to see the card, so it prohibits my ability to have a productive workplace when I am "forced" to talk about crafty techniques and supplies. :P It truly is a matter of two birds, one stone with a paper ribbon image. No jokes!

Take some time, play along with the challenge here and go check out the sweet ribbons here!

Happy Friday!!!

Runway Inspiration Card

I made a card. From start to finish. In under an hour. That includes finding the inspiration. For real. And now I'm posting it. Who am I?

At any rate it is for the Runway Inspiration Challenge Blog (great late night discovery) and it went from being a phone themed card to a wedding card to a hello card fast. Really, fast. Glad I felt well enough to leave the couch tonight. :) Those resolutions of mine are only 1/2 working. Training for a marathon is apparently looked down upon when you have bronchitis. Not my call though, which makes me feel slightly less guilty about not exercising. Which reminds me, I should probably go take my antibiotic if I want any hope of feeling better in 2012!

Supplies: Waltzingmouse Stamps (herringbone background from Vintage Labels 4), Hero Arts (sentiment from Just Saying Hi), PTI Cardstock, MFT Loopy Flower Die, Eco-Fi Felt, Memento Ink (Tuxedo Black), Making Memories Specialty Glaze (Pearl), X-press It Adhesive tape

With Sympathy

I've thought long and hard about what I want to say about this card, and quite honestly I've come up with nothing. The reason? Because I made this card for a friend who recently lost her mother and I am sort of at a loss of words as to what to say. I feel deeply for her, and I'm sorry for her loss. I hope she can take some small comfort knowing that someone is out there thinking of her. Here's the card:

Supplies: WMS Stamps (Blessed by You, Frame It), Ranger Archival Ink (Sepia), Ranger Paint Daubers (Copper), Celebrate It ribbon, SEI Monrovia (I think...it's really old!), and PTI Kraft
Challenges: WMS Sketch Challenge #78, Ribbon Carousel Challenge #34