Coffee and Friends

I love the My Favorite Things stamps!! I have used the Hot Stuff set before but it has been awhile. Sometime ago I had purchased some coffee themed paper and while I had used some before I guess I didn't realize I had 3 sheets left *okie knows everyone here has done that before and is ready to give the evil eye anyone who acts like they haven't*.

Supplies used:
My Favorite Things - Hot Stuff
Patterned paper - Basic Grey (Boxer), Flair Designs (Coffee Talk)
Stampin Up - Blender pen, inks (Chocolate Chip, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Rose Red), Chocolate Chip cardstock
Prism Cardstock
Cat Eye Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan
Versamark ink
Mini Accents




I stamped the cups from the set on the yellow paper with Versamark ink which can be seen a bit more easily in this picture. I think it made the yellow cardstock not be quite as stark looking.

And yes, that is stitching you see yet again! Can ya tell I am lovin my Janome Sew-Mini?? *okie grins from ear to ear noddin her head up and down*

Live A Little

In today's busy world I think people do forget to LIVE A LITTLE. We get wrapped in in work, stress, world problems, etc etc etc. I thought this card would be good for a variety of occasions for those people who need to be reminded to live a little!

The cut file is set to cut 6 at a time. I have been doing 4, but since this one was generic enough for me to stamp a variety of sentiments on the inside I thought I would do a few extra. I think the following sentiments would work on the inside: happy birthday, happy retirement, happy graduation, happy anniversary...so now you see why I made extra! *okie grins thinking she is a sheer genius*. Of course you can delete any of the elements you need to if you don't want to cut 6 cards.

Supplies used:
Cricut cartridge Graphically Speaking *yep the only cart used!*
Patterned Paper Basic Grey Granola line
Mica Stardream cardstock
Cardstock scraps
EK Success Photo Corner Punch & 1" circle punch for flower center
Stampin Up Not Quite Navy marker and ink
Cuttlebug folder Textile
Zip Dry Glue
Mounting Foam

I cut two of the half flower on Graphically speaking and used a darker and lighter yellow and I think it turned out nicely. I also really like how the Textile folder added some great dimension to the petals. I used my finger to curl the top layer of petals.

I pop dotted the sentiment so the flower could slide down a little under it. Well okay that and ya'll know I am totally addicted to mounting foam!! *okie hides her container of mounting foam so people won't see how bad her addiction really is*

Friendship is the Fabric

Ever since I got the Sentimentals cartridge I have been dying to use the scissors on something and when I saw a card in Cards magazine I knew exactly what I wanted to do! *okie is getting so good at stealing from that magazine* In the magazine the saying was "Family is the FABRIC of life" but I changed mine to FRIENDSHIP IS THE FABRIC OF LIFE. The cut file is set to cut 4 at a time. I did computer generate the sentiment.

Supplies used:
Cricut cartridge Sentimentals - scissors
Cricut cartridge Mini Monograms - Scallop circle
Cricut Cartridge Plantin School layers
Paper - DCWV Indian Summer Stack
EK Success 1.5" circle punch
Iron on crystlas
Janome Sew-Mini
Dark Brown Cat Eye Chalk Ink
I did cut the card base at 4.25 x 5.5, which is the plaid paper.

Here you can see the jewels I used. They are hot fix type jewels and in person are super shiny! I use my Hot Marks tool with the Mini Flow Point to adhere the crystals. I did try to choose patterned papers that resembled fabric patterns that I liked.

Remember you can click the picture if you want to see closer details. But if you see a flaw I don't want to hear about it!! *okie cracks up laughin*

Total Scraplift Job!

I so scraplifted this card from out of one of my Cards magazines! *okie ain't too proud to admit* Although the one in the magazine had a bike and I used a tree. The tree stamp is a Inque Boutique stamp that I got about two years ago. I still hate that Inque Boutique is no longer in business, I really did like their stamps!

The HELLO is cut from Opposites Attract and I used the shadow feature to cut it. I did one with the orange cardstock and then cut one from chipboard so it would be a good heavy dimension. I did pop dot the E and the second L.

I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser on the image and mats.

I really like the twine on this card and think it gives a great look, and yes twine was used in the Cards magazine card also! *some days okie just doesn't have a creative bone in her body* I used a fiskars border punch on the blue cardstock. The patterned paper is from DCWV Indian Summer.

Out of the Box - Stampin Up Hostess set

I was in the mood to make a card the other night and thought I might need to start making some more birthday cards to not send out to my friends and family for their birthdays *yes okie said NOT, because okie just makes the cards, she doesn't remember to mail the dammed things*.

I wanted to use my Stampin Up hostess set Out of the Box for the card. I really like the Out of the Box set, it comes with the jack in the box and some really cute images to put at the end of the spring. I did get part of the idea from the Stampin Up catalog.

The flourishes on the left hand side of the card are what was left over from the CELEBRATE card I made a few weeks ago.

At first the right hand side was plain and I didn't like it so I used a Versamark pad to add some flourishes and I liked it after that. I cut a small piece of cardstock to cover the area where I was going to stamp the sentiment so it would stand out better. I am not sure what set the "it's your day!" is from, but it didn't come with the Out of the Box set.

The Shrinky Dinks Experiment

Last night I was on the phone with my friend Scraparazzi and I told her I was going to experiment with the Shrinky Dink oven I found in the guest room closet at Christmas time. I had gotten it for my daughter for Christmas when she was around 8 years old and she did use it for a little while, but like many toys it was stored away after the novelty wore off.

I was posting progress on Facebook as I experimented. Let me tell you, if you don't follow me on Facebook and already know this, I have a bunch of smart azz friends!! *okie cracks up laughin*.
While on the phone with Razzi I was trying to figure out how the dang oven worked. Razzi soon got off the phone with me, she said her husband called. I think she just didn't want to hear the bad train wreck *okie thinks Razzi might be a pretty smart cookie*.

My first post on Facebook said:

How can anyone break a Shrinky Dink oven? Well I will let you know when I figure out what I did to it!!

For some odd reason I couldn't get the stupid little cooling drawer to come out of the oven. After I found the directions I found out that the timer has to run and then it won't open until after the cooling period *okie thinks instructions are nice sometimes*. So at least I figured that part out.

Here are the replies I received...

ScrapperDelighted - WTH?

Rhonda - didnt know they even still made them

My daughter - Omg! You broke my shrinky dink oven! Mom!!! How could you???!!! Haha. Jk. I forgot we had it. :p
Mollie - Hmmm that's interesting..
ME -Guess I am impatient...just wasn't waiting long enough for it to cool! LOL

Capadia - You - impatient? Never!!! What are you shrinking?

ME - Cap right now I am shrinking anything I can get my hands on and try! ROTFLMAO
Robin - Lucy better run! *little did Robin know Lucy would soon high tail it to the other room*
Camille - A heat gun will work also if you don't get the oven to work.

I picked out a ladybug to color, using my seldom used Prism pencils, and try in the oven. It turned out okay but the little antenna didn't lay flat. Taking Camille's advise I used a slight blast of the heat embossing gun and flattened it out some.

If you look between the two top ladybugs there is a notch. I tried using an eyelet setter punch to punch the hole *okie now knows why they said use a hole punch* and the plastic split. I thought it would melt together during the oven process....it didn't *okie sighs*.


So my next question on Facebook:

Anyone know if Stazon ink and Bick Markers are Shrinky Dink oven safe?

Renay - is that what blew up the oven?
Jen - Are you talking about sharpies? Yes they are BUT the color gets really dark. I use the pastel sharpies.
ME - Thank you for the answers!

My next question was:

Is it safe to use Cricut Cartrige packaging in a Shrinky Dink oven...or other thin acetate product.

Jen - You have a shrinky dink oven?? You know I'd try it!! LOL!!
Maggie - Okie, I love that you're testing all this out at your house. Later (if you don't do too much damage) you can put out the official shrinky dink handbook! LOL
ME - Okay answer to the question about the packaging from Cricut cartridges........

NNNOOOOOO

Do not try this at home. ...
Maggie - Call the Fire Dept, they'll put it out AND they have cute firemen...
Jen - Well I am the same person who caught glitter on fire! Yeah.. never listen to me!! *okie thinks Jen and okie should never craft together as that might be a lethal combination*

Here is the result of the Cricut packaging in the oven.....
A very bad truck wreck!! It did start to curl and I thought shrink, but instead it just curled. I then tried the heat embossing gun and it made it resemble a Volkswagen beetle that had gone through a car smasher! Oh and about Lucy running to the other room...well she did that when there started to be a bit of an obnoxious odor coming from the oven as the truck started to curl.

In order to keep Razzi updated on the experiment I posted on her wall : Shrinky Dink experiments continue. Do not use Cricut packaging in the oven....it doesn't work. Okay going to find my fire extinguisher. Will keep you posted!

And then I got a post from Razzi, what a dear and caring friend she is, on my Facebook wall. Razzi said "Only Okie would nearly catch her house on fire using a Shrinking Dink Oven that runs on a single light bulb...."

So the end result of my experiement was...I do like the oven and I will use the oven. But I better try and find some REAL Shrinky Dink plastic before I use the darn thing again!

Flat Stanley arrived...

If you remember my BFF Karen and I worked on a Flat Stanley project last weekend for her nephew. Today I get a call from Karen saying she spoke with her nephew and he was so excited and told her "AUNTIE!! I HAVE THE BEST FLAT STANLEY!". He told her the teacher wasn't allowed to say his was the best but all the kids said his was the best and then he added "and it was better than (name not disclosed to protect the innocent)'s Flat Stanley!"

It does my heart good to know how well Karen's nephew loved his Flat Stanley project! And now my life is complete! At least until the next project! HA HA HA HA HA

Sweet Treats Thursday - Fathers Day

Happy Sweet Treats Thursday bloggies!! This week's theme at Cuttlebug Challenge is Father's Day and it is just around the corner so ya better get crackin on those cards and gifts! My fellow designers for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog have created fantastic projects to share with you also, so make sure you check out their projects for creative inspiration. Also don't forget to sign up for this week's giveaway!

For this week's theme of Father's Day I tried to think of something that my father would have enjoyed. He did love to go fishing and one of my fondest vacation memories is of us going to Lake Eufaula here in Oklahoma and him setting out lines at night and checking them in the morning. So with that memory I chose to do a fishing theme for the Father's Day project.

I have seen the sentiment "fishing you" used before and I thought it was quite clever so when I picked out the paper for this project I knew I wanted to use that sentiment and I think it works quite well. The cut file for FISHING YOU is set to cut 2 at a time.

The card is a 5.5 x 5.5 square. *okie thinks she might get tired of square cards soon...but isn't sure how soon is soon since she is still so diggin making them*

Supplies used:
Cricut cartridges - Just Because Cards, Wild Card, Base Camp
Momenta paper - fish pattern
American Crafts - stripe paper
Stampin Up Marker - Chocolate Chip
Signo UM 153 silver gel pen
Janome Sew-Mini Sewing machine


Here is a close up of the card so you can see more detail. Of course I had to pop dot *okie wonders if she will tire of pop dots and then decides she will never tire of squares or pop dots*. I had to dot around part of the letters so they would stand out more. I love using the dark on dark but sometimes it does make it hard to read so just a little doodling usually does the trick to make the letters stand out more.





For the giftcard box I used Tags, Bags Boxes and More. I cut a fish from the patterned paper and layered it over another one I cut and pop dotted. I used a small spinner as an embellishment. I did remove the hook to avoid injury and if you try using something with a fish hook as an embellishment I highly suggest removing the hook *okie is not a lawyer, nor does she play one on tv, but she also doesn't want to be held liable for a horrendous accident happening while crafting with fishing lures*.


Here is a close up of the gift box. You can see a little better about how I cut the fish twice and then pop dotted one on top of the other. You can also see how I attached the spinner to the box. Sometimes I am amazed how handy brads can be! I inked the edges of the box with chalk ink and added faux stitching around the acetate window. The acetate is actually some I had cut from a Cricut cartridge box *okie is so all about recycling in the craft room*.



I hope everyone has a fabulous Father's day with that special man in your life!

Flat Stanley project.....

My BFF Karen is in for a week for my daughter's graduation and brought Flat Stanley with her. Karen's nephew is in first grade and sent Flat Stanley to her before she left California to come here. When Karen told me about the project I told her we could fix up something nice. Karen's idea was to write a letter and put some pictures in a plastic brag book type thing. Of course that just was NOT going to work for me! *okie wonders if maybe Karen had a lapse of temporary insanity with even thinking that would work at okie's house*. Especially after she said her nephew was talking about how a little girl in his class had a really nice project from her grandma!!

We sent the pictures to Walmart for development and of course I had idea's running through my head. Evidently my idea of nice and Karen's idea of nice are most assuredly not the same. I did tone things down a bit, but not by my choosing! *okie is still cringing because none of the pages are inked*.

Here are the pictures of Flat Stanley's cross country trip in his own mini-scrapbook. You can click the pictures of you would like to see more detail

The little album is 6x6, which does fit in a flat rate priority envelope in case anyone is wondering! HA HA HA

For the cover I used 50 States, Locker Talk and Everyday Paperdolls. I did manage to get in a little doodling when Karen wasn't looking. I cut the United States in red, white and blue and then cut the white into stripes and cut the corner for the blue. The starts are iron on studs.

I used a black marker to dash the flight pattern across the United States.

I wanted to to cut Massachusetts again but with silver thinking it might show up better.....Karen wouldn't let me!

Karen found a post card for the first page to represent that Stanley made it to California. She wrote the story out and then I placed the pictures in order through the book. After she got it typed up I measured what size was left for journaling and then used MS Word to get the size right.

The starfish at the corner of the journaling is a die cut I got on clearance years ago.



Karen is a travel nurse and was able to take Stanley to work with her and get a few snapshots. Everyday Paperdolls was used for the Ambulance and the stethoscope. I cut the ambulance in black and white and then cut the tires off the white. I glued a small piece of red behind the cross and then glued the white on top of the black. Brads were used for the hubcaps. The stethoscope was cut in blue and I used a silver gel pen for the end and ear pieces. I added a surfboard brad for some decoration.

So I had problems with these two pages. Karen didn't want to cover up the paper and kept telling me I couldn't use it. I figured it was my paper and I could dam well use it if I wanted too! I thought she was going to have a heart attack when she realized I cut the word flip flop in half *okie grins a bit evilly* and she felt that was like a mortal sin since she loves anything flip flop!




I used die cuts for all the embellishments on these two pages, except for the word sand, it is fuzzy sticker letters. I love how Karen had Flat Stanley in all the pictures! I don't know if I would have thought of doing it or taken the time!! *okie does have to admit that Karen is an awesome Auntie*






I had a hard time deciding what to do for the Old Town clock and decided to use the "wish you were here" from Going Places. I did make it longer using Design Studio so it took up more room. I colored in the arrow with silver gel pen.

The fish is cut from Pagoda and I used orange Mica cardstock to give it a more glitzy look and then added a little doodling with a silver gel pen.



The sailboat is a die cut from the same package as all the beach die cuts used. I cut the waves from Everyday paper dolls. The shark is a rubon, as is the word "CHOMP!". They came in a package of Sea World rubons and worked great for that page.

Karen even had a friend of hers in California in on the project, that is the hand you see saving Flat Stanley from getting eaten from the shark. *okie certainly hopes the first graders in Massachusetts don't get nightmares from this image*

I so cracked up when I saw the picture of Flat Stanley buckled up in the car for the ride to the airport!! I would really like to say that Karen was teaching the kids safety but after being BFF's for 23 years I have to admit she was likely being a smart a**! *okie falls out of chair laughing*. I used Going Places for the suitcase and the airplane embellishments. On the suitcase I used a Stampin Up marker to color the corners, handle and around the name tag. And yes boys and girls, inside that tiny name tag it indeed says "Flat Stanley". Karen thinks I go overboard sometimes *okie blinks innocently* and I have no idea why she thinks that!

We really couldn't think of how to decorate these pages and decided the ones with the clouds were fine as they were. We came up with peanuts but I didn't have any peanut brads *okie knew she should have ordered some* so off to the internet I went searching. I found a picture of some Delta Airline peanuts and a can of Coke. I sized the images to what I needed and printed...WALAH! instant embellishments!



Stanley finally arrived in Oklahoma!! Oh yeah, and Karen made it also *okie snickers*. I found a post card at Walmart that we used for the one page. I also resized a picture of the Cheyenne Arapaho tribal flag to use. For the statue picture I just used a sticker I had left over from a layout I did years ago *okie hears the gasps when she mentions stickers*, OH GET OVER IT! You guys know you have used them before also! *okie cracks up laughin*


I printed a picture of a Sonic cup to add to the page here. The lime and cherry brads are some I recently ordered from Eyelet Outlet. Karen mentioned something about her nephew should feel special that I used some of my nice brads on him *and okie whole-heartedly agrees*. The other page didn't seem to need much embellishing. We did add a picture of my daughter since her graduation was the whole reason for Karen and Stanley's trip to Oklahoma.


Finally on the back page we added Stanley decked out with his new sunglasses and surfboard. The sunglasses are a die cut and the surfboard is from a picture Karen had left over.

So that is the little scrapbook of Flat Stanley. It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse to be sure! Overall I am quite happy with the project....oh and that little girl from Karen's nephews class.......She can tell her grandma to EAT IT BECAUSE WE ROCK!! *okie composes herself*.

Hope you guys enjoyed the Flat Stanley project!! *okie smiles sweetly and waves bye-bye*

Not mine, but.....

SewDelish did use the cut file I have available for the Tri-Shutter card. I think her card turned out fantastic!! I love the colors she used also! You can check out her other work on her SewDelish Blog.

Shipped already??!!

WOW! I got a shipping notice last night from Eyelet Outlet! Not is their sale great they ship out super quick! Will be sure to show you guys what I ordered!

Hey all you brad and eyelet lovers!!

I got an email from Eyelet Outlet and they are having a 20% off sale, and it does include clearance sale items! So if you love you some brads and eyelets like I do, now is the time to snatch some up! Of course I ordered a few before posting because I didn't want ya'll to buy all the cute cherry and fruit brads before I got a chance to get mine! *okie cracks up laughin...and laughs harder realizing how true that statement was*.

The coupon code is moving20 and you enter it at time of check out. Their shipping is SUPER reasonable!!

Graduation Announcement

And of course you are all invited to attend! HA HA HA

I chose to make an easel card for my daughters graduation announcement. I think the ones that you order through the school are nice but I wanted something that was just a little more memorable and functional. I don't know about you guys but with my family they are more concerned with the picture than the announcement....and there better be a picture! I think I might have to make a few more but for now I am stopping at 45...for now, for today.

We chose to use 3 different pictures for the announcements so that not all family members got the same picture. Now which recipient gets which picture is beyond me and since they are in the envelopes already I am not going to check! *okie notices she misspelled recipient and is glad for spell check*

I made the cards the standard A2 size of 4.25 x 5.5 inches. I had to crop the 4x6 pictures to 3.5 x 4.75 inches. The white mat is 3.75 x 5 inches and the blue mat is 4 x 5.25 inches. The photo corners are a Martha Stewart punch.

For the announcement part on the inside I cut a piece of blue cardstock at 4 x 3.25 inches and the white is x 3.75 inches. I printed 6 announcements to a sheet of white cardstock and then cut accordingly. For the place card *okie isn't sure if that is what it is called but decides that is what she is going to call it* I cut blue cardstock I used George to cut a 2 x 4 inch piece of cardstock and then used Cursive 101 to cut the 2010. I then place it over a piece of white cardstock at at the same size. The Senior is cut from Cursive 101 and I used Design Studio to weld the letters. I cut the shadow from burgandy and top layer from white *okie thinks...well duh okie they can see the dang thing is white!* With the placecard being layered it was enough ledge to hold the picture to make it stand so I didn't need to add a border.

I used a glitter pen to dot around the photo corners and on the lettering to give it a little glitz. And of course you can click the picture if you would like to see more detail.

Sweet Treats Thursday - Mother's Day

Happy Sweet Treats Thursday bloggies!! This week's theme at Cuttlebug Challenge is Mother's Day, featuring the Cricut markers. My fellow designers for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog have created lovely projects to share with you also, so make sure you check out their projects for some divine inspiration. Also don't forget to sign up for this week's giveaway of the Cricut Cartridge Once Upon A Princess!!

I was so excited and to be honest felt a little trepidation when I started trying to figure out something to create with the markers. To be honest *and everyone knows okie is an honest injun* I haven't used them much.

Since I haven't had to find a gift for Mother's Day in quite a few years I thought I would make something for myself with my mom as the subject. So for my project I chose to do a collage frame and a square card.

For collage frame and I used a picture of my mother when she was about 18 years old. I used Storybook for the lettering and the swirls. The Cricut markers were used to draw on the caramel colored cardstock and then did an overlay with the Cricut cuts. I think it added just the right subtle touch to the cuts.

Papers used are:
Stampin Up Cardstock
K & Company patterned paper
Stardream Mica

The flowers are Prima's with Kaiser Pearls for the centers.

I cut the MOM out of acetate with the shadow effect from Storybook and then cut two M's out with the regular cut and adhered on top of the acetate. Using Zip Dry Glue I adhered small buttons to frame the picture, following the theme of the paper used for the letters.

If you click the picture you can see how the acetate is pop dotted over where I used the Cricut marker outlined everything on the cardstock.


The "love" is a K & Company sticker and the "is" is a brad but I am not sure of the brand, could be K & Company also *okie knew this day would come and hates having old timers disease*. I added some dots to the swirls with pink Liquid Pearls.

I did add a piece of cardstock to the back of the "love" sticker and then pop dotted it *okie so loves dimension*. The brad is pop dotted as well.




The card is a 5.5 x 5.5 square. I used the following carts: Lyrical Letters and Wild Card for the sentiment, Heritage for the corners and Indie Art for the rose. The sentiment is done completely with a Cricut Marker. Also for the corners I used the hide contour feature so I could get the blackout effect with the maroon color.

I typed out "a mothers love" and then repeated the pattern in a staggered rows to make the background sentiment for the front of the card.






Here is a close up of the card so you can see the dimension and layers of the corners and the rose.