Scraps and Ink

A winter wonderland...

 

So I spent last weekend in a beautiful 2700 sqft. cabin up in the woods at Tamarack Resort with five really amazing ladies-  Aimee, Lisa, Priscilla, Holly, and Joni. We had so much fun scrapping, chatting, creating, crafting and really getting to know each other. I barely knew a couple of them, and one I had never even met, but i feel like I made friends for life with these women. Even though we were different ages and from different bckgrounds, we all came together and had a really awesome time. Everyone was so open and we all learned so much from each other. I think women really need these get-a-ways with other women on a regular basis just to remind ourselves that we are people other than the wives and mothers, co-workers and such that we strive so hard to be. We work so hard to be all that society needs us to be, but in the end we are all just a bunch of girls that want to have fun at a really great slumber party! We need to re-connect with the amazing things that make us girls and we should celebrate that in each other.

Did I mention that this cabin had a hot tub outside on the giagantic deck? Oooooh yes!!! I found it after digging down through a foot of snow. AHHHHH!! I thouroughly enjoyed hanging in the hot tub while it was lightly snowing on my head- definitely a unique experience. Very relaxing and peaceful.

 

 Oh, and these women were all chefs extrordinaire!!! I have never ate so well in my life!!! I contributed a little breakfast dish of my own that I have honed to near perfection, if I do say so myself! Fresh stawberry crepes with whipped cream and confectioners sugar. Mmmmmm!!!! It took me nearly a year of trial and error to get the cooking process right, since they need to be super thin, lighly browned, and cooked perfectly even, but I finally figured it out and I am thankful for the ladies giving me the opportunity to make these crepes for them and especially to those who came back for seconds!

Here is a photo for your drooling pleasure!

Aimee being a Russian supermodel:

 
I want to thank them all for a FAB weekend of fun and laughter, tears and friendship. I will remember it always!!!

later,

nancy

   

Getting Caught Up Finally!

Hi all!!!
Wow it has been soooooo long since I have posted! Naughty me- I have so much to share! The hubs was gone for a couple weeks on business and it was all I could do to keep things here running semi-smoothly while he was away. I learned that the trash really does not take itself to the dump while I sleep in on Saturdays (besides other things), and if I needed something quick picked up on the way home from work- there was no one to call to do that for me either. I have a laundry list of things I seem to take for granted when he is home being my Super Hubs. Speaking of laundry, he usually does that too, and while he was gone, I don't think I ever got caught up! Don't get me wrong, he is so much more than the trash man and errand boy, but he has always done these things without me ever having to ask, and without complaint, or needing a gold star for his forehead (some husbands require fanfare for every little thing they do, and Andy has never wanted that- thank goodness!!!!) I love him dearly and I vow that I will do a better job of letting him know how much he means to me.
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So anyways, then there was Halloween....a crazy weekend for us since both my girls had parties here at the house on both Friday and Saturday night. This was the first year that Ashley was not deathly afraid of scary decorations such as skeletons, spiders and such,  so I went all out! I normally do just "Fall" stuff, so this year was lots of fun adding the scary stuff and dressing creepy rather than just being boring old mom in something "cute".
I will spare you my mad scientist outfit, but lets just say, I made a couple 13-yr-old boys scream like little girls. Hahahahaha!!! Good times, good times.....

A couple pics from the parties:

My beautiful little Greek Goddess! Trust me, this was not much of a stretch for her. She had the personna down pat!!! 

 

A few of the party invites. Why yes, of course they are hand-stamped by me! ;)

Some fun decor:

I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and made these "potions" myself. I filled with dyed Sprite and other various sodas, printed off labels from an online site and attached to various bottles I found at the thrift store. These are just a couple of the bottles I ended up making. There were 8 in all, made from bottles in all shapes and sizes with labels such as Swamp Fog, Snake Oil, ACID, Cyanide, etc. Lots of fun! Being the mad scientist/bartender at the party, I also dropped gummy eyeballs into the glasses as I served all the kids. You should have seen their looks of horror! CLASSIC! Needless to say, I referred to each drink as a "suicide" and they all had to be convinced that they would not really die if they drank it.    

 

Brain soup anyone? Really not as gory as it looks! it is just cauliflower in water and red foodcoloring. Not edible- for effect only. 

So anyone that knows me, knows that this next photo is really sub-par compared to photos I would normally share, but this was taken in the dark, no flash, hand-held and I was in as hurry. Need I say more? At least you get the general idea.

 
No pics of the rest of the house, or Miss Ashley. She refused to pose for the camera. I know, dissapointing, but you have to pick your battles when you are the mother of a moody 13-yr-old girl. 

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So now this brings us to all the projects I have made for various mfrs that I need to share!
Up first is a Halloween wall hanging using a wooden ProvoCraft pumpkin thingy that I covered with papers by Graphic 45 and then Glimmer Misted to make the pumpkins a bit more orange and glittery (the glimmer in the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist never shows up well in photos).

Now a Fall decor box also using Graphic 45 papers and Glimmer Mist:

Covered balls: (no jokes please- and you jokers know EXACTLY who you are!!!)

All of the above projects were made using products by Graphic 45 and Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.

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Next up is a shout out for another company I design for- KaiserCraft- my FAVE Aussie company ever! They are always coming out with the best products and I just LOVE working with all the goodies they send me! When I find a box from KaiserCraft sitting on my doorstep, it is like Christmas! And speaking of Christmas, it is right around the corner and the little elves at KaiserCraft are not wasting any time! These cards that I created were featured on their blog today, along with several other talented artists' cards. So go check it out! KaiserCraft blog

 

These next two cards are not on the blog, but still use FAB papers from KaiserCraft's Dear Santa collection.

Phew!!!! That was quite a bit of stuff to add in one swoop, but tomorrow is another day and I still have oodles to share! So come back and visit soon! ;)

Thanks for looking!

later,

nancy 

Double Bow Tutorial

Since my girls are 11 and 13 now, and waaaay beyond the "pretty hair bow" stage, I have not made this type of bow in years! But a friend recently made me realize that I could still use them on cards and other projects (thanks Heidi!). So I made this lovely green one for a pretty card and photographed the process for an easy tutorial. Oh BTW, I just LOVE these Amy Butler papers by K&Co!

 

 

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So here is the step-by-step for the bow:

Materials:

Fine-gauge wire

Four lenghts of ribbon:

2- 8 inches, 1- 6 inches, and 1- 5 inches (ends cut diagonal).  

Tie a loose knot in center of the 6" length.  

With one of the 8" lenghts, loop each end so that they slightly overlap in the middle.  

 

Gather the center together and secure with fine-gauge wire.

 

Repeat the above step with the second 8" length of ribbon. Using the wire, secure the center of the second looped ribbon to the center of the first looped ribbon.

 
Place the 5 " length of diagonal-cut ribbon to the back of the double looped bow and secure in the center with wire.

 
Trim wire. Wrap knotted 6" length of ribbon around center of bow taking care that knot is in the front of the bow and secure ends to the back of the bow with hot glue.

 

All done! Now you can add your bow to all sorts of projects for that classic finishing touch!

 

Thanks for looking!

later,

nancy

30 Days of Creative Contests!!!!

So how fun is this:

KaiserCraft is having a month-long contest!  30 days=30 contests=30 prizes!

KaiserCraft blog

Join in the fun, visit the KaiserCraft blog during the month of September and you'll find daily contests and prizes, industry news, inspiration, guest blog posts and much more!

They have not even told the DT what the daily contests and prizes are as of yet, so we will be surprised right along with everyone else!!! It will be fun to see what the KaierCraft fans come up with!

So don't be afraid to join in and share your creations with us- you could win a fabulous prize! 

later,

Nancy 

Scrap Within' Reach

I was so thrilled when I was contacted by the company "Scrap Within' Reach" and asked to be a guest designer for their blog! They have some FAB new lines coming out that they just premiered at CHA.

They sent me a fabulous kit full of goodies and I had alot of fun creating a few projects for them.

Here is a pic of the kit they sent:

 

And this is a few fun things I created with it:

 

Close-ups

 

Cards

 

 

I took all the photos at different times of the day under different lighting conditions, so they may look a little wonky- sorry!!!

Thanks for looking! :)

Later,

nancy

Full photos!

So even though CHA has been over for two weeks, I am just now getting around to posting the Graphic 45 projects I did for their booth. I know I shared little sneaks and partial photos, so I am going to show you the full photos.

But before I do that I just have to say: Even though I did not attend the event, I heard it was fabulous, and the G45 booth looked amazing!!! The G45 Design Team members all sent in just stunning work for the displays- I wish I could have seen the other projects in person! I am humbled to be in the company of such reknowned and talented artists! They are all listed along the side of my blog under the heading Graphic 45 Design Team, along with a link to their blogs, so if you get a chance, take a look at their blogs for some truly inspiring work! I love these ladies!

Anywho, here are my projects as well as a few other things:

 

 

 

 

 

Later,

nancy

Mini Madness Class

Thanks so much to everyone who attended my Mini Madness class at Scrapadoodles and to those who also purchased kits. Your support and desire to constantly learn new techniques and styles keeps me striving to bring you new ideas and projects!

Many of you purchased both the "girl" and "boy" kits but only ended up putting one together during class. So here are the photos of both kits. Enjoy and please e-mail me if you have any problems. nancyscrapnink0002@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Later,

nancy

 

So much to share!!!

So as some of you know, CHA Orlando is going on right now, and I had TONS of stuff I sent off to be used in the booth displays for a couple companies I design for. Let's start with the Graphic 45:

I cannot show you the entire image of all of the G45 projects that I made since it is using the new line being debuted in Orlando this week, and they want the buyers at the show to see the projects before the rest of the world, but I CAN give sneak peeks! Just click on the link to go over to the G45 site to see all the new FAB papers I got to play with!

Domestic Goddess 

 

Renaissance Faire

 

  

So that's it for the G45. Hope everyone at the show loves my finished projects!

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Now I will share what I did for Best Creation. But before I do, I just have to say that these papers really are amazing IRL!!! Just covered with sparkle and bling! So much fun to work with. Take a look! Be sure to click on the image for a close-up view.

Sweetie Pie Collection 

  

 

 

Tropical Paradise Collection

 

  

 

 

Make A Wish Collection

 

 

 

Happy Fourth Day Collection

 

 

 

 

 

Water Fun Collection

 

 

 

 

Play Ball Collection

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!!!

later,

nancy

  

MORE Christmas in July!!!

So here is the mini-book that I will be teaching on the 28th of July. I love the pops of pink and aqua with the more traditional red and green. This is a pretty simple class, the most time consuming part will be prepping and painting the board book. If I am feeling generous, I MAY do this for the students ahead of time, but don't hold your breath!

Be sure to click on the images for "up-close" views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you go! If you are in the Boise/Nampa/Caldwell area and would like to take this class on the 28th of July (a Tuesday), call the store (Scrapadoodles) at 455-2488 to reserve your spot since seats fill up fast. I would love to see you there! 

Thanks for looking! 

Later,

nancy

Christmas in JULY!!!

So I am super excited to teach next month's card class at Scrapadoodles! I don't care what time of the year it is, I believe we could all use a little Christmas all year long! I have always loved the concept of Christmas in July, so with that, I have decided to do Christmas themed classes for next month's schedule. This card class will be held Tuesday, JULY 21st, 6-8 pm. Call the store to sign up- 455-2488. I won't waste any more time blathering on, so here ya' go!

Merry Christmas card:

 

If the photo above looks like it has a bit of a glare, it is because it does. I used a bit of Heidi Grace paper for this one, and as many of you know, it has a pearlescent sheen to it. Beautiful IRL, but a bugger to photograph!!!

Next card has a bit more of a rustic charm- like a snowy cabin in the woods, complete with a cozy patchwork blanket to keep your toes toasty warm. And yes, that is stitching.....FAUX stitching! So much easier than the real thing- no need to drag out those bulky machines!

Patchwork Happy Holidays card:    

 

Contrasting against the red interior peeking thru the cut-out window, this next one has a single pretty, glittery hanging snowflake. Simple and elegant.

Elegant Snowflake card:

   

This next one is very similar to a card that I did that will be featured in a book coming out later this year by DRG Publishing. Very similar. ;) I totally love these bright funky papers by Daisy Bucket! The stamps match perfectly!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas card:

 

And last but not least, my personal fave!

Season's Greetings card:

 

Tomorrow I will add the little mini-book we will be doing for the Mini-Madness class to be held on the 28th using more pretty Christmas papers and a fun wooden album by KaiserCraft!

Thanks for looking,

later,

nancy