EASTER BLESSINGS

Hey Stampers!

It's been raining here most of the day.....it was nice because I was able to be home ALL DAY!! So, I was busy today doing laundry, cleaning, and just catching up on some things around here. It was great....my kitchen sink looks sparkling clean!!!

Well, below is the other card that I made in class on Monday....the picture truly doesn't do this card justice. It is a STUNNING card in real life!! We used the Easter Blessings stamp set from the Occasions Mini catalog...which we stamped, embossed, and then colored with markers. It was very easy to make and it went together beautifully! Colors are So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Black, and Whisper White....I don't have the exact ribbon used here, so I will either substitute with card stock or a different ribbon when I make this card again.

Karen did an excellent job on this one....THANKS Karen! I will definitely be doing this card at my next club.....so those of you who are in my club......this is a sneak peek.

My quilt is coming along great....I have been doing a bit on it each night. I'm hoping to be done by the weekend. The finished quilt will be 9 squares across by 12 squares in length....I've already got 6 of the 12 rows all sewn and put together. Pretty exciting!!

That's it for me today....gotta get to my sewing!!

Until next time, find some time for stamping.....or sewing!!

Blessings..........Cindy

QUILT UPDATE & CLASS CARD

Hi Stampers!!

Well....I went to stamp class today and, once again, made a couple of GREAT cards!!! I will show you one today (I'll save the other one for another post) and I'll show you what I've done on my quilt.

First the card.....We used the Trendy Trees stamp set....I just love that set!! We started by randomly stamping one of the images as the background. Then we layered a strip of chocolate chip with a strip of the Good Neighbor DSP that is FREE with Sale-A-Bration. The scallop circle is from the SU pennant die and then layered with circle punches. We layered the word window punch on top of the modern label punch and there ya go! A great card!

This card is so versatile!!! You could put ANY sentiment on it. Plus, this could easily be a card for a man.....and I'm always on the hunt for a nice masculine card.

Ok, I am zipping right along on my quilt....I sewed on Sunday afternoon and then a LITTLE bit this evening. I am probably over a quarter of the way DONE! This is the easiest and the most fun I have ever had sewing! Making these quilts gives me the same type of satisfaction as mowing the lawn....you know how you can instantly see progress when you mow.....well, it's the same with the rag quilt! I'm just going to show you a small portion of it.....I will take a picture of the entire quilt when I'm done....after it's all sewn and then after I've washed it so that it frays.

The picture above shows you what the front will look like....all those seams will fray and really soften it. Below is a picture of the back.....it looks more like a traditional quilt.

I'm so excited!!! I'm already thinking about what kind of quilt I can make next!!! Steve even said that I should make one for us! Get him sold on the idea and then he won't mind when I sit in my craft room sewing and sewing and sewing and sewing!!

Well...that's it for today! Thanks so much for dropping by! Hopefully by this weekend or early next week I will have it all finished and I will show you!

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings........Cindy

BABY QUILT

Hi Stampers!

I have stamped a bit.....but what I've been working on is a baby quilt for my husband's niece and her husband who recently had a baby boy.

I bought the material and cut it out using SU's scallop square die and the big shot......I was done cutting all the material out in about an hour!!!! It makes making a rag quilt QUICK and EASY! Both of which is ideal for me since I don't have much patience for tedious tasks.

Here is a picture of the stacks of squares.....today I started sewing them together.

Making a rag quilt is EASY, especially with the help of the big shot. I'm not much of a seamstress, but making these quilts are a snap. All I do is put the material back to back (so the right side of the material is out) sew two squares together with an "X". I don't use any batting in between.....I thought this made it too bulky...since I using flannel. Below is a closer picture of the sewn squares. Once I get it a bit further along, I'll take another picture.

Well, I'm going to get back to my sewing!!

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!

Blessings.........Cindy

WINNERS!!!

Hi Stampers!

Today I don't have a card to share with you.....but I do have some GREAT NEWS!

Today was the Ranchos Middle School Science Fair. Madison and two of her friends started their project over the Christmas break.....their experiment had to do with which liquid would rust a paperclip the quickest. So for almost 2 months I had cups of different types of liquid (bleach, water, pineapple juice, etc.) sitting on my kitchen counter.....and it paid off for her and her friends. They won THIRD PLACE for the 7th graders!!! We're so proud of her!! Here's a picture of her beside their display.....

Here's a picture of her certificate....

There were about 100 displays.....

Here is what the multipurpose room looked like.....rows and rows of display boards. The 8th graders also had displays.....I was one of the judges for the 8th graders. Those kids are way smarter than me!

Andy had a science fair display too.....he did well....but he didn't win :-( He had another wrestling match again tonight....and unfortunately he didn't win that either :-( What he did win today was this giant kooky looking phone in a special drawing at school.....

He was thrilled with his new and fantastical phone, as much as I think he would have been to win at the science fair. Although, I think winning his wrestling match would have trumped winning the phone.

Believe it or not.....this phone actually WORKS!!! He wants to make it our main house phone.....whadda think? He has been wanting a cell phone.....maybe this will work for him :-D

Well, that's all for us today! Never a boring moment around here!

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!

Blessings........Cindy

THREE LITTLE WORDS

Hi Stampers....Hope you had a relaxing three day weekend. We did....the weather was PERFECT! It was sunny and warm and just perfect for bike riding and being outside. I know that I should feel a bit guilty since the rest of the country was being pounded with snow.....but the weather is definitely a perk to living in California......I don't think it's the only perk, but not too many more perks are popping into my brain right now.

OK.....on to why I have this blog.

Thought I would post the other card that we made at stamp club last Monday.....I love how this card came together. It wasn't difficult even though it has a few layers.....I think that the dry embossed background really sets the card off nicely. The cut out flowers mounted with dimensionals also gives the card some depth.

Well....that's it for me today. Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Until next time, find some time for stamping.

Blessings.........Cindy

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

I just want to wish each of you a

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Here is a valentine that we made at my stamp club last Monday. I cased this card from another demonstrator named Crystal Lenssen....she had posted it on a SU demonstrator only site called Stampin' Connection.

Nothing hard about this card! Just emboss it half way up, stamp and punch hearts and you're done! These are definitely my kind of cards.

Well....hope you have a wonderful Valentine's!!

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings.........Cindy

FINALLY!!!

Hi Stampers! Well, I finally got around to taking pictures of the cards that I've made either on my own, in my club, or in class. I'm tempted to post them all today......but then I wouldn't have anything to post tomorrow....LOL!!! What I will post is the two cards that we made in my last stamp class with Karen.

The first one is a very simple, yet very cute, Valentine's card. We used the SU Elegant Bouquet embossing folder on Pretty in Pink card stock.....punched a sentiment and backing, and then tied a ribbon. Voila.....instant card. The original sample was for a sympathy card....but you could make this same card for ANY occasion.

The second card that we made was more for Easter.....but you could actually use this just to send to a friend. We used A Good Egg stamp set....you can't really tell from the picture, but the eggshell has Dazzling Diamonds on it which really sets it off nicely. We again used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder on this card and colored in the middle of the flowers.....a simple yet WOW touch.

Well....that's it for me today. I hope you all have a great 3 day weekend!!!

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings.........Cindy

GOSH....ANOTHER WEEK IS PAST ??!!!

Hey there stampers! I just looked at my blog and realized that a week has past and I haven't posted anything! I have LOTS of cards made....but I need to take pictures of them. Sometimes just taking pictures and uploading them to the computer seems like such a pain....and when I buckle down and do it, I'm done in hardly any time at all. But, alas, I haven't done that.

Although here is a card from a stamp class a couple of weeks ago (when I last took pictures). It is an easel card. You can see a tutorial on how to make this card here on Splitcoast.

It's pretty straight forward....I'm thinking of making a card for my upcoming stamp club based on this one. Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so I need to get my cards made....and this is an easy one which looks great.

I haven't mention our kitty, Bones, in a while.....so thought I would show you a picture I took of him last week. For those of you who don't know or remember......our cat had 7 kittens and "Bones" was the runt (we called him Bones because he was skin and bones for awhile...and the name stuck). He was being pushed out by the other kittens and was about to die....so we took him and fed him with an eye-dropper and then a bottle, along with allowing him to nurse by holding back his brutish brothers and sisters. Anyway....he survived and is THRIVING!!! He is now quite spoiled....but also the SWEETEST cat I have ever had. He is very much a people-lovin' cat and likes to be the center of attention....sometimes he even gets in the way. But we love him dearly....even Steve, who isn't much of a cat lover, loves him.....in fact, he gets to stay in the house most of the time (I'm talkin' about the cat, not Steve :-D ...although, Steve gets to stay in too!!!). For those of you who know Steve....this is HUGE!!!

Anyway.....here's a picture of him.....He's not a runt anymore! He jumped into the box while I was unpacking a Stampin' Up! order

Isn't he a cutie??!!

Well....I will work on taking a bunch of pictures of all the cards that I've made, and plan on making this weekend, and posting them.

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings to you..........Cindy