Wanna See the World's Largest Rubber Stamp?

Click the title of this post. Amazing!

Spring Daffodils!

Colored with Copics!

Timeless Templates by Lauren Meader

I finally decided to try one of Lauren's templates which can be purchased for $5 for downloading. While watching American Idol last night I decided to try one. They can be purchased at Papertrey (click the title of this post to link).

I have been hesitant to purchase templates due to bad experiences with templates that were too complicated to complete or ones that are not accurate and square. I also much admit, I may be the challenged one with this sort of thing.

The great news is that Lauren's templates are extremely easy to follow. I purchased All Boxed Up, printed them out and in under 10 minutes (!!!!) had completed the basic item. I am now having a blast decorating it. It is completely accurate and a no-brainer when it comes to where to cut, fold, or glue. It is absolutely square and came out perfectly.

The dream come true with these downloadable templates is that I can print them instantly on my colored cardstock and cut them out without having to find a plastic template and get it traced accurately. If you wanted to mass produce these, the hard work is already done. All you have to do is assemble. IMO, they are flawless, not to mention just adorable when it comes to the design and how these templates can be used.

Be sure to click on the ideas that come with the download.

You can be sure I will be buying more of these. You pay for them and download and have it in your hot little hands within minutes. No waiting for it to mail and no shipping costs either. Genius!

Don't Monkey With Me!

This fun little image is from Peggy's Vintage Circus CD (click title of this link for her site). Borders are done with a Fiskars Border. Sentiment source is unknown.

Embossing Ribbon Using NO Starch and a Cuttlebug!

Click the title of this post to go to a How-To post that Mel did. It contains many techniques, but if you scroll down far enough you will see where she shows how to dry emboss ribbon in your Cuttlebug!!

The New Dazzle Versamark Pads?

Not at all thrilled here. Mine was so dry it barely worked and I did not want to spent the outrageous $9 for a refill to make it work. Instead I added just enough clear Versamark to wet it up and it works equally well as that of my friend's who was very juicy to begin with.

That being said, it just is not what I expected. You get so much more sparkle with Shimmerz in Angel Wings (that is the color) that I use that much, much more. Also the Stardust pens give more bang for the buck for small areas.

I really don't know anyone who has been thrilled with this product. It was expensive and is for sure a product I would never have purchased had I known how little "dazzle" you really get. I have the Frost one, but people say the Champagne is about the same quality.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

I made the tulips with a teardrop punch. Source of sentiment and ribbon is unknown. I used Cuttlebug Dots Border and my Scor-pal to do the sides.

Blog Candy Alert

I usually do not do blog candy links, but this one is too good to pass up. Click the title of this post to go to Passion For Crafts Blog and add your name to the list!

Tiny Flowers

Stamped images are flowers from Papertrey's With Sympathy set. Designer paper is Basic Grey Urban Prairie. Sentiment source unknown. Ribbon is PTI. Frames and butterfly from my stash.

Sony Reader, Like New, FOR SALE

Like new Sony Reader PRS-500. In excellent condition. Comes with a 2GB Pro Duo memory card ($40 value) and approximately $200 worth of books, including a number of classics, some of which are The Beautiful and The Damned (F. Scott Fitzgerald), An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser), and Dracula (Stoker). Other books include Truth and Beauty (Ann Patchett), Feast of Love (Charles Baxter), and The Thirteenth Tale (Setterfield). Full list available if you contact me.

Sony Reader capable of playing MP3 and audiobook and can carry close to over 1000 books with memory card. Uses E-Ink technology that makes reading easy on the eyes. Comes with USB 2.0 cable, charger, cover, and software CD. You can view PDF and Word docs with this reading device.
$195 USD + 8.00 postage (includes insurance). I accept Pay Pal only.

IMPORTANT: If you want it, email me and let me invoice you! Otherwise it gets too confusing.

Email me at rubyslippers@neofast.net

Pretty Posies

I punched 5 circles from Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6 x 6 pack. Then I snipped them with scissors, cut some stems, and used my teardrop punch to make leaves. Fence is a Martha Stewart border punch. Background is Making Memories Flower Patch paper.

Product Review

I purchased a package of Papertrey Clear Cardstock. The price was good and it is nice and clear with no yellowing. It is not close to being as thick and sturdy as the Hero Arts Clear Cardstock but it is plenty thick enough to make a sturdy card that will stand alone. I am quite happy with it.

I also bought the Bitty Dots Designer Paper. I purchased it hesitantly as I already have some thin sheets of dotted paper that are not color dense and are quite thin. Nice surprise!! While not quite as thick as Papertrey solid cardstock, it is sturdier than paper. I would say it is half way between text weight and cardstock. The best thing is that the colors are really rich and a perfect match to their solid paper cardstocks. I am very happy that I bought it and pleasantly surprised at how really nice it is.

Stunning Card by Viki

My friend Viki sent this card and I was just immediately in love with it. She used Dreamweaver stencils and Shiva Paintsticks on sparkling paper!

Blog Alert

I just stumbled upon a very colorful and creative blog. If you want to see Kelley's fabulous photography and creations just click the title of this post.

Piano Girl

Main image by Cornish Heritage was embossed in black. Sentiment source unknown. Pink striped wallpaper was made with PTI Background Retro stamps.

A Note About Blogs That You May Not Know

I just read a post on a chatboard where a person was frustrated by lack of response from another person. Their "proof" that the person was around and had time to respond was that the person in question was keeping up her blog. In another instance a stamper said that it was evidence that a death in a family had not really occurred because the blog was updated daily and there was no mention of the death or interruption to the art creations.

What some people do not realize is that many of us schedule posts. In other words we make take a whole day uploading and captioning photos and schedule them to post and not come back to our blog for a month or more. I often set up 6 weeks of posts at a time. This means that what you saw on my blog yesterday or may see tomorrow are items I uploaded and scheduled to post weeks ago.

In both instances I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I know that the people involved and they really would have responded if they had been available. It is neither proof that the person is around or that they have unlimited time on their hands.

Mary Englebrite Card

My friend Heather made this card using a picture from an ME calendar. Love the colors!

Pierced Rose Card

This is a little PSX stamped image that a GW friend sent me. I colored it and did the piercing around the Nestie Scalloped Square edge to add a little interest.

Have a Rockin' Birthday Jacob!

My nephew is 18 years old today and he loves guitars. I made this card for him from my Inkadinkado set and added some glitter here and there.

How to Buy and Use Just Rite Stamps

This link (click title of this post) is a very good explanation of how to get started with these stamps. I consider them basic to my collection. The link shows many of the options and the advice is very good.

Boards and Beams in Plaid

Stamps from Papertrey. Ribbon from Impress.

Just Thinking Out Loud

I scan through several hundred blogs per day via my Google Reader. I probably do 10-15 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening and end up seeing many, many cards each day. I have the design teams from companies like My Favorite Things, Flourishes, Papertrey, Gina K, and many others all bookmarked.

I am noticing that these companies have releases and you see those designs over and over and over for a few days by the dozens. Then the release happens and there will be another batch about 2 weeks later (as people receive their orders) when you see cards made with the sets. Then what seems to happen is that you almost never see those images again. It is like people use them only when they are new and then put them away, never to be seen again--or rarely to be seen again. It is like the images don't stand the test of time.

So, today, I went through some galleries of some companies and looked at dates of submissions. Sure enough, with rare exception, photos are uploaded right after sets come out and then in some cases, another card is never seen again using those images.

Do people buy sets and use them only when they are new? Do people just use the sets for a month or so and then move on?

I don't think it used to be like this. I saw SU's Roses in Winter cards all over blogs for a good continuous 2 years. I can think of many others that were used and reused for long periods of time before people seemed to move on. Is it that there are just so many options out there and people have so much expendable income that they can use a set for a few weeks and then retire it?

I find myself going back to my favorite sets over and over. I have some sets that are 11 or 12 years old that I still use regularly.

Cuttlebug-Scorpal

This card is similar to the one I did earlier this month with the Easter Egg Punches. Very simple and fast. I always do ALL my dry embossing on Papertrey white cardstock as it embosses so crisply.

SU French Script for Sale

I have an unused French Script SU Background stamp for sale. $6.50 (shipping $5 with the wood and $2 for bare rubber only). Email me at rubyslippers@neofast.net. Insurance optional.

Stamp Gossip

From All That Scraps: "We are looking to go completely unmounted". Yes!!

Papertrey will now carry Copics and Versamark Dazzle!

From the "Bottom" of My Heart

My friend sent me this as part of an email earlier this week and then I saw it again on a blog and just had to share. Too cute!

Happy Easter Vintage Images

This adorable little vintage bunny comes from Spring Fling Volume 1 CD from Peggy Loves Vintage (click title to go to her site). I did the background with my Papertrey Background Retro set and the ribbon is also from Papertrey. I used Nesties to do the scalloped square.

Stamp Gossip

Luminarte, creator of Twinkling H2O's is going out of business.

There is a cordless heat tool that has just come out. Make An Impression has them and will demo at their warehouse sale April 16-17.

ISO Papertrey Everyday Classics set

Looking for this set at a reasonable price. Used is just fine. Email me at rubyslippers@neofast.net.

Inspired Card

Sharon Johnson did a similar card to this and I thought it was so pretty combining Cuttlebug folders, border, and Wassail (Basic Grey) papers. The stamp around the circle edge is a clear stamp from a $1 bin and the center is from Papertrey's Guidelines 2.

Be Very Careful When Removing Clear Stamps

Many clear stamps are really hard to remove from the backing the first time. It is imperative you do it very slowly so that you don't damage the stamp. If you just rip it off and the result is a cloudy looking stamp, you have damaged it too much to stick to a block. Many people do not know that removing the stamps for the first or even first few times has to be done with care.

Post-It Holder #2

I made this one using the same directions as the one I posted yesterday.

ATG Gun Video

I saw this link (click on the title of this post) on Nancy Ward's blog this morning and decided to repost it here. It is a video showing how to load your ATG and I know several of my friends have this gun and it IS tricky to do this in the beginning. Hope this helps some.

Post-It Holders

You can buy these 4 x 6 acrylic picture frames for about a dollar at Walmart or other places. I just slid a piece of design paper in after attaching an owl (Pink Poison stamps) and then used some red liner tape to attach the pad. I added the sentiment on a few pages.

Brand New Set of Hero Arts Poetic Prints stamps FS

I bought a set of these and discovered I already have a set so I am selling them at HALF of what I paid for them just to get them out of here and so someone else can enjoy them. $10 plus $2 shipping. Insurance extra. Email me at rubyslippers@neofast.net if interested.

Vintage Chicks

Can you tell I am totally hooked on the images from Spring Fling Volume 1 from Peggy Loves Vintage (click title to go to site). This one is done using the Martha Stewart Lace punch and I used my new Guidelines 2 sets from Papertrey to create the background.

A Stamp Room From Garage Sale Finds

Check out Melissa's cute stamp room (click title of this post) that was all done with garage sale finds or things people gave her. The colors she used are really interesting too!

White on White

All stamps are clear stamps from a $1 bin somewhere. I used the Cuttlebug and Marth Stewart border punches to do the backgrounds.

Easy Easter Card

Scor-pal + Cuttlebug + Punch makes this card!

Baby Bunny

Another card from Peggy Love's Vintage (click title to go to her site). This one is from Greetings Volume 3. Ribbon and papers are all from Papertrey. Punch and sentiment sources unknown.

In Your Easter Basket

I got the basket punch and the little egg punches at Impress. I also got the fabric ducky, the background stamp called Ornate Swirl, and the ribbon there. Paper for the basket is Memory Box Flower Patch. The sentiment is a clear stamp from a $1 bin somewhere.

Hippity Hoppity

I found these 2 stamps from Hero Arts for half price at the local university book store. I used Urban Prairie scraps to paper piece their clothes. Background paper is by Making Memories Flower Patch Pack. Ribbon is Papertrey.

Driving Down the Bunny Trail

All stamps by Amuse. All designer papers by Making Memories Flower Patch Pad. Punch for fence and top borders are Martha Stewart. Ribbon is Papertrey and lower border is done with a Cuttlebug Dot Border. Colored with Copics.

Thumbs Up

Thumbs way up for Ellen Hutson. Fast shipping, good service, and she credited me for a discount code I forgot to use AFTER THE FACT. She has a lovely selection of things and I got my order within 3 days.

Wood Blocks for Sale

THESE ARE ALL NOW SOLD!


These are unused SU blocks that never had stickers attached. 75 cents for each block that measures 3 inches or more on either width or length and 50 cents per block for all the rest. Shipping is $6 for smaller boxes and $10 for those that require a large flat ship priority (per box). Email me at rubyslippers@neofast.net if you are interested. Here is what is left (quantity in front in ( ).

NOTE: If you want a mix of my choice without specifying, I will sell you a $10 flat ship box for $15 plus the shipping. You will get a good variety and I will pack as many in there as possible.

(6) 5 x 6
(1) 3.5 x 4.5
(1) 4.5 x 2.25
(3) 3.25 x 5
(2) 3 x 2.25
(2) 2.5 x 2.5
(2) 2 x 3
(7) 4.5 x 1
(2) 3.75 x 1
(5) 2 x 1
(1) 2 x .5
(1) 1.5 x .5
(1) 1.25 x .5
(2) .5 x 1
(2) .5 x .75
(5) 1 x 1
(4) 1.5 x 1.25
(5) 1 x 1.25
(11) 1.25 x 1.25
(23) 1.5 x 1.5
(22) 1.75 x 1.5
(5) 3.75 x 2
(6) 1 x 2.25
(11) 2 x 1.75
(8) 3 x 1
(8) 3 x 2
(13) 2.25 x 2
(8) 2 x 2.5
(1) 1.5 x 2

Happy Easter Vintage Images

I love vintage images and Peggy Loves Vintage (click title above to go to link) has the most adorable collections of vintage cards on CD's that one can use in card making. This one comes from Spring Fling Volume 1. I used my Nesties to this one. I did the piercing down both sides with a template from TheCraftersWorkshop.com. This particular template is called Stitch, Doodle, Dot and is item # TCW131S. The background dotted paper is from a paper pack by Making Memories called Flower Patch.