Card Kits aren't too bad!

My friend Carmen, aka ScrapperDelighted, sent me a Basic Grey card kit a few months ago. I was rather upset with her for it since I would only be able to make one of each card *okie is so obsessive about making multiples* and told her I would never be able to use it. She told me then I could just look at it! HOW RUDE IS SHE??

Well one night I was wanting to make something to use up my stash and I decided to buck up and do the card kit. I was really pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed making the cards and even though there is only one of each I figured I could use them as my own personal stash or give them to my boss for our stash at the office.

The kit included pretty much everything. I think I did add a few embellies here and there but for the most part it is all from the kit.

Here are the pictures of the cards.

Mini-Album for Chi-Omega

My daughter is pledging Chi-Omega and I thought I would make a little album for her big sis and her twin. And while I was at it I made one for my daughter also. She hasn't given them the little albums yet so I don't know if they like them or not.

The albums are 4x4 inches. I used my bind it all to put them together. The carts I used are Hoot N Holler, Stamping, Graphically Speaking and George.

I made little templates that can be removed and used to cut their pictures and then place in the album. I thought it would make it easier for the girls and in case they are not scrappers they would be less worried about messing something up.

Since their mascot is an owl I did use a few images from Hoot N Holler. I didn't even want this cartridge until my daughter pledged and I found out it is used a lot for her sorority.

I did hand doodling on almost every page. Ya'll know doodling is one of my addictions!

Some Stickles were added to the hand doodled flourish on the first page with the owl. Gotta love the bling of Stickles!



I was going to just put places for pictures on every page but decided on decorating some of the pages. Most of the areas for pictures are at least 2.5".

I used scallop circle punches to frame the owl on this page. The sentiment is with the Word Window and Modern Label punches.






I thought the tag would make an interesting frame for a picture. Tags are always so nice to jazz up a little. I used a flourish stamp to add to the pink polka dot background paper.

The owl is punched from the patterned paper that made me even think of doing this project. Some stickles were added to his wings and tummy.

I used the ticket corner punch on the photo mats.



The colors for the sorority are Cardinal and Straw. The paper that made me even think about this project had those colors and were accented with teal and pink so that is where I came up with the color combo.

I didn't want to over decorate every page so these two pages are rather simple. I did add the we are family since a sorority is much like a family and I thought the girls would appreciate that.



The little owl on the last page is an Inkadinkado stamp and I thought he went great with the sentiment cut from Hoot N Holler.

I wish I knew if the girls liked the albums but since my daughter seems to forget to give them to them I may never know. I told her to bring them back home and I would just sell them on eBay if she was ashamed of the little albums.

Promarkers....I think I'm in love!!

I was recently contacted by Letraset about trying and reviewing their ProMarkers, which are alcohol based permanent markers. I have seen items where the markers were used and have been intrigued but me being the choosy person *okie things choosy sounds so much better than cheap* I am I figured I would stay with my Stampin Up! markers, which are water based. So when I was asked to try a sampling of the ProMarkers I thought I would give it a shot.

I received several markers in these nice little cases which are great for standing up the markers while you work.

First off let me tell you that I only give honest opinions about products on my blog. I beileve you guys have grown to trust me over the years so I am sure not gonna tell ya I like something when I think it is crap. With that said.....I LOVE THE PROMARKERS!!

I was a little intimidated at first but practiced at blending a few colors before starting to color my images. I stamped off several images in hopes of getting at least one good one to use on a project to show you guys. I actually ended up making 4 cards from this sheet.

As I figured out what colors I liked blended I wrote the colors down so I would remember which to use. You can see the bottom right hand image isn't finished. I used it mainly for practice.

The layering of colors did take a little practice, but really not much. I watched several video's and looked at a couple websites to see how others do the coloring process. And to tell ya the truth there isn't a right or wrong way. It all depends on personal preference.


Here is my finished card! I think next time I am going to pick my papers first and then use my ProMarker colors from there because I sure ended up with a strange color combo but it seems to work out okay on the finished product.

The patterned paper is by Luxe, and I also used Prism cardstock, Stampin Up! cardstock and Coredinations White Wash. The image is from My Favorite Things and is the Say Charge set.

Here is a close up of the image where you can see the shadowing better. And you know the best part? I didn't need any special cardstock! I just used the Georgia Pacific cardstock from Walmart and it took the makers wonderfully! Oh I did stamp the image with Memento Ink, I was advised that this ink works best as others might bleed.Make sure you click on the picture so you can see the details better.

I wish I would have listed the colors better so I could tell you which ones I used. I know some of the ones I used were:

Denim Blue, Powder Blue
Tan, Putty, Caramel
Orchid, Lavender
Pear Green, Marsh Green
Oatmeal, Blush, Soft Peach
Dusky Pink, Pale Pink

You can see the chart here: PROMARKER COLOR CHART

here is the inside of the card. I was so excited about it that I even decorated the inside and ya'll know that is something I rarely do! *okie is comfortable with her laziness*.

I am really looking forward to using ProMarkers more in the future and plan on doing a video showing how I use them to color images. I guess that can be my weekend project!

Oh yes...there is one draw back for me on using these markers. They are gonna cost me some more money because now I want all the colors!!! *okie cracks up laughin*

Easy Christmas Card

I recently got the Stampin Up! Lovely Tree stamp set and I have been wanting this set for over a year! I couldn't wait to use it to make something so I thought I would make a quick Christmas card.

The patterned paper is K & Company. I used Versamark to stamp on the red cardstock at the bottom. The tree is stamped on pearl Mica cardstock. The photo corners are EK Success. I used hot fix rhinestones along the bottom of the ribbon and for the star on top of the tree.

If you click on the picture you can see the coloring a little better. I just colored right on top of the stamped image with my Stampin Up markers. Since I used Stazon I wasn't concerned about the markers making the ink bleed.

I added some Frosted Lace Stickles to the branches and along the "ground" to mimic snow. I did pop dot the image off the card...BIG SURPRISE THERE!

While it is simple I think it turned out pretty nice.

I now have 6 Christmas cards made for this year. Only 40 more to go and I should be all set! LOL

Parade of Lights!

Every year on the first Thursday night of December there is a Parade of Lights in downtown Ada to kick off the Christmas Season. There haven't been many years where I have missed the parade. Last year was one year I would loved to have sat out the parade since the weather was bitterly cold. But since my daughter was in the parade that just wasn't possible!

So to make the best of it, with camera in hand we braved the cold and went to the parade!


I chose not to use the traditional colors of Christmas and I think the lighter colors made the pictures stand out more. Oh and do you notice my little Santa Claus Lucy? She loved the parade, or was it the people all standing around? Either way she had a great time!












My favorite part of this layout, besides the pictures of course are the string of lights across the top. I used some wire that my friend Linda, aka LGuild gave me. Her husband helps a friend with telephone repair or something and instead of throwing away a bunch of old wire he gave it to her and she in turned shared with me! RECYCLING IS AWESOME!


Here are some close ups the lights on the string. I used Mica Stardream to cut the title and lights. The title is from Lyrical Letters and the lights are from Christmas Cheer. I did add a few lines on the silver of the lights just for some extra detail.











This is the last of the layouts I did at the Swarm. I think I better get started on some new layout kits for the next Swarm! I have a big one coming up in March in Dallas!!

Kiss the Cook

In my house seeing a man in the kitchen is a rare sight. Okay actually seeing a man in the house is a rare sight...but the kitchen is even more rare! I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of my daughters father cooking supper for us.

This one is a super simple layout but I was able to use From My Kitchen, which I love but rarely seem to use. I also used Don Juan and Indie Art.

After putting the layout together I wish I would have shadowed with either white or light grey for the title. But oh well, what's done is done. I am sure my daughter will just appreciate having some pictures of her father one day and not be worried if mom shadowed the title correctly! But then again with her being MY daughter, she likely will say to herself "I wonder why mom didn't use white or light gray to shadow the words".

I wanted to show a close up of the oven mitt to show you how you can add a little doodling to a cut and make it look so much better! I simply inked the edges, then using a quilting ruler I made faux stitching going on diagonal one way and then the other giving the mitt a quilted look.

You can see where I added faux stitching to other areas as well. The photo corners were done with a Martha Stewart photo corner punch.








I used some metallic paper for the pot so it would have a more realistic look than just using gray paper. I added a little detail with a black marker and white gel pen.

If you do any cooking layouts or recipe books and don't have From my Kitchen, well....ya need to get it! There are some really great cuts on this cart. I think you can probably get it on eBay pretty cheap these days also.


Tomorrow will be my last layout from the Swarm and will be the two page layout I did.

HOT DOG! It's another layout!

This was the second layout I finished at the Swarm on Saturday. I am tellin you folks, if you go to Swarms or Crops doing layout kits is the way to go! I was able to get something finished and it still gave me plenty of time to visit with everyone. I didn't have to think much about what I was doing since it was all cut out for me. I just had to ink, embellish and put together!

My poor dog Lucy always acts like she is so sad when someone is eating and she isn't getting any of what they are having. My daughter's father was over and he was trying to enjoy his hamburger but my dog Lucy and his dog Ace were looking very sad. I just had to snap some pictures of them and him giving into them!

I am sure I probably got the layout design from Pagemaps since that is where I get most of my ideas when I can't think of any myself *okie doesn't think she will mention that is pretty darn often*. The "Hot Dog" is from Paper Pups, The "It's" is from Cutting up, the burger is from Paperdolls for Everyday, and the "time" is from From My Kitchen.


I cut the burger out of mica for the base, then out of green for the lettuce and cut off the part I didn't need. I also cut it from the light brown for the bun and made a few snips to make the top of the bottom of the bun. A little inking around the bun parts must added the right touch.

The little paw brads are some that I had left of a care package that a nice message board member sent me when I got Lucy years ago. Man how time flies! I can't believe I have had her for 2 1/2 years already!

Some fonts do have shadows and some don't, and when they don't just make your own! I added faux stitching to the title. Sometimes this makes your letters just POP a little more.

I added a little faux zig zag stitching to the corners. Sometimes just a little will add a lot.

Notice the little dog bone eyelets? Those are some quicklets from Eyelet Outlet. Quicklets are really easy to use. You just make your hole and put the Quicklet in and then you can just use a ball point pen to twirl around and have the back of the eyelet open out and keep it in place.


Come back tomorrow to see another layout that I got completed!

I Swarmed with some Cricuteers!

Yesterday was the Swarm in Norman Oklahoma. My friend Linda, aka LGuild, and I went up for the day to swarm with some gals from the Cricut message board. I made sure I took my camera and then guess what.......I didn't take one picture! But thanks to Facebook I was able to swipe a few! Linda and I were table mates with Robin and Renee and we had the best time with them! I hope I get them again at the next swarm!

Here is a group picture of us, and then one of me where I was the first to get a layout done. Of course with the aid of layout kits it sure makes it a lot easier.














I was able to get 3 one page layouts done and 1 double page layout done. And here you guys thought I was just a card maker! *okie cracks up laughin*


Here are close up pictures of the layout I am holding in the picture.

I used 2 patterned papers and some white cardstock for the base of the layout. The patterned paper came from the same DCWV Christmas stack that I have been using for a few years now. I tell ya those 180 sheet stacks last a LONG time!

The gem lights are some I got on clearance for $1 and if I could remember where I would tell you! LOL

I generally like to get a lot of pictures on a layout and I think the one I used for this one was able to show the story of my daughter and her dad putting up my Christmas lights. My daughter is a bit of a clown and gave me a Spiderman pose that was just too good not to use!

Here is a close up of the title at the top. I used a font from Lyrical Letters. I love the fonts on that cartridge but they don't have shadows *okie so loves her shadow layers* so I have to make my own by cutting two and then off setting the letters.

You can see a little better in this picture that shows where I ran the white through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder and then punched with a scallop punch. Ink? Of course you see inking! Come on you guys know by now that is a compulsive behavior for me!

I wanted to take a close up of the bling Christmas lights so you could see them well. You guys know I love bling and I remembered I had these bling stickers when I was putting my layout kit together.

You can also see where I used a scallop punch on the green patterned paper and also added a little faux stitching.

Oh yes and a few little doodle dots on the letters, ya know I just can't resist!

What do you mean what about the other layouts? Of course I am going to show them. But not yet. Not yet! *okie cracks up laughin at herself for using a line from one of her favorite movies...Gladiator* I will be showing them over the next few days so be sure to come back if you would like to see them!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

My craft room has went through quite a transformation over the last 3 years!

I was going through pictures on my computer and found some that shows the progression of my craft room! I figured what the heck why not share them on my blog!! So here goes! Oh and you can click on the pictures to make them larger if you would like to see more detail.

So this was April of 2008. Not long after I got my little Baby Bug! As you see there was a total freakin mess!! *okie thinks she is very brave for posting these pictures*









Evidently I thought I needed to clean up the mess because I found some pictures that aren't quite as bad! I remember being quite proud of myself for getting everything cleaned up and the room looking half way decent!









There for awhile I reorganized way more than I crafted! I had to get more stuff to organize my stuff! Of course over a year's time I had accumulated quite a bit more supplies! I soon out grew this set up also.









I hated the carpet and the paneling and after years of saying he would do it, my landlord decided to put down linoleum and paint! My friend Linda, aka LGuild and I made a trip to Texas to go to Ikea and I was able to get a wonderful Expedit unit that I just love!










I have always spent a lot of time in my craft room and looking at the pictures from a few years ago I wonder why I did! It was so dark and depressing looking! But I guess I didn't know it then since it was what I was use to!

An old layout!

I was browsing through my pictures and found this picture of a layout I did WAY BACK when I first got my Cricut. My cats, Simon and Sebastian, were totally intrigued by the Cricut.

As you can tell this was way before I started inking things and looking at this now I would love to rip it apart and get the ink after it! LOL

I love the picture at the bottom of my cat Simon, he looks like he is smiling!

I made the cat faces and the bug head with George. I would say the title is with Base Camp and Opposites Attract.

FINALLY!!

The winner of the Naughty Princess cards is....*okie waits for drumroll*














*and is still waiting for the drumroll*














CAN I GET A FRIKKIN DRUMROLL SOMEONE??











*okie finally hears a drumroll*

NanaJo said...

You had me going for a moment with all the requirements - almost deleted your post but my primary room teacher taught me to read the all the directions so did and happy I did - lol. Guess I should know better - what a giveaway and what fun to use those cards to the winner.

October 17, 2010 11:56 AM

Wouldn't ya know it! She didn't leave contact information. So if I don't her from her in 3 days from this post I will draw a different winner!

ONE ONE ONE!

ONLY ONE MORE HOUR!!

Don't ya'll love suspense? *okie laughs evilly*

TWO

Hours until we know who won the Naughty Princess series!

Getting closer

only 3 more hours until the winner announcement

FOUR

more hours until the winner announcement!

And the winner.....

Will be announced in 5........


hours.......

Naughty Princess Giveaway!

I made 3 sets of the Naughty Princess series and after all the wonderful comments I received about the series I have decided to do a giveaway of one set! Yep you heard me! One lucky winner *okie thinks...or maybe unlucky* will receive a complete set of the Naughty Princess series!

All you need to do to enter is become a follower of my blog, post on 3 other websites making sure you post the links in your comment, subscribe to my email, follow my friend Linda's blog, visit 25 of my sponsors saying I referred you to them, post on your Facebook page "Okie is the most awesome person in the world", tell three of your friends to follow me and last but not least...send me a pound of beef jerky! *okie so loves beef jerky* Now isn't that simple and so worth winning this great set of cards? *okie laughs so hard she almost cracks a rib*

Now ya'll know me better than that! All you need to do is leave a comment on THIS post, making sure you leave some type of contact information.

I also should admit that it usually takes me awhile to get to the post office. BUT...if the package has to wait too long to get mailed there are always extra goodies included because I have a tendency to keep tossing things in the box!

ENTER ONLY ONCE! I have to approve all comments so it may take awhile before your comment shows up in the list. So please be patient and enter only once.

I will end the contest on Tuesday, October 19th at midnight!

Lazy like Maxine...

I know you think these are the cards I posted yesterday but in fact they are not! They are completely different images. Okay okay the layout is the same SHEESH!

I promise to try and post something good in the next few days but right now I am busy with Naomi again getting her settled in to the nursing home again for a few weeks. She looks pretty good and sounds good. Just hope she can get her strength up enough to come home soon.

Oh anyway back to these two cards....don't forget to click on the picture and make it bigger so you can read the sentiment.

I wanted to show you some close up shots of the leaves that I used to make a border and I actually meant to do that on yesterday's card but I guess I forgot *okie can hear her friend DCDoll saying "okie you are suffering from CRS again!*. I didn't go in any certain order, I just tried to mix up the colors. I do like the leaves being out of patterned paper as I think it adds a little more interest to them.

You can also see the twine better in this picture. I really love using this medium to add to a card or layout. It is different than ribbon and it gives a more informal look at times. And another reason I love using it is because IT WAS FREE! My friend Linda, aka LGuild, gave me a whole big spool of it, and she can't have it back!

On one of the images I added a few stray leaves on top of where there were leaves on the image. While I know I can cut leaves with my Cricut you guys know how I love my punches! I was totally against them at first but I think they are great for being able to use up even the most tiniest of scraps!

Linda posted her cards she made while at Stamp Club also. I think she cheated off me because I am almost positive I had started mine before she started hers! so be sure to check her Maxine cards ---> HERE <---.

Who doesn't love a good Maxine!

Ya know no matter the age of a woman I think a woman always appreciates Maxine's candor about life!

Last week at stamp club I got a sheet of Maxine images to make some cards with. The lady who runs stamp club is always so nice to bring printed sheets of different images for use. She only charges $1 for the laser printed ones and then she has some for free.

I used several size leaf punches for the embellishments at the bottom of the images. I wish I actually owned the punches but alas...I borrowed them at stamp club! I wrapped some twine around and tied a bow with it. The border is done with the Fiskars Threading Water punch.

These were super simple to make and I think they turned out really cute! Make sure you click the picture to enlarge the image so you can read the sentiments. Tomorrow I will be posting two more Maxine cards.

And wrappin up th Naughty Princess series

Is none other than Cinderella!

To be honest I don't think I ever had a favorite Disney Princess and even further honest I always thought they were a little hokey with all the honey sweetness in their lives. I do believe I like them a little better now though. Now that they are more real and got down and dirty! *okie cracks up laughin*

So for Cinderella I kept trying to think of something for the sentiment. I was on the phone with my friend Linda, aka LGuild, and she is the one that came up with the sentiment. She told me I had to give her credit or she would smear my good name through the mud on the Cricut message board *okie has no idea why people think okie picks on Linda when it is totally the other way around*.

Of pattern pink paper is SEI and is double sided with the flowers. The green is a bit of scrap I had of some Stampin Up. You maybe not be able to see unless you click on the pictures, but the pink flower paper has bits of silver in it and that is why I chose to go with silver brads on the card.

I used the Stampin Up word window and modern label punches for the sentiment on the front.

I did pop dot Cinderella and the sentiment.


I didn't do a lot of embellishing because I was just too tired when I put the card together. But I think the use of 3 different patterns of papers does help with dressing up the card without adding other embellishment.

For the inside I stamped some cherries next to the sentiment *okie starts to explain the use of cherries but then decides she will leave it up to the imagination of others*. The cherry stamp is from Stampin Up Tart and Tangy.

Well this winds down the Naughty Princess series! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed showing it to you!

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Snow White is a little bad....

So you may not want to look any further than this!









But if you are daring then have a peek!

I have heard jokes about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs so that is how I came up with the sentiment for this card *okie wonders why she can never remember full jokes, usually just the punch line*.

I thought the apple paper was appropriate and it is from Stampin Up as is the green stripe paper. I got them on the clearance rack a few months ago. The corners were made with the Stampin Up scallop square punch and then cut to fit the card. I used the Stampin Up scallop circle punch for the sentiment on the front, and the circle punch is the 1 3/8 Stampin Up punch.

I used the black Stampin Up marker for the faux stitching around the card. The ribbon color is banana and I got it from Ribbons and Bows Oh My, which you guys know I love that online website!

The sentiment circle and corners are pop dotted but Snow White I applied directly on the card.

For the inside sentiment I found an image on the internet and used copy and paste in Microsoft Word to add it to the sentiment.

I know the inside sentiment will likely offend some, but I thought it was pretty dang funny.

I hope some of you can find the humor in this one because I know my friend and they will think it is hilarious! At least most of them will....okay, yep, pretty much all of them!



Tomorrow will end the Naughty Princess series and we will be finishing off with Cinderella.

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Ariel! You naughty girl!

So after a little hiatus from the Naughty Princess cards I am back to finish the series! For today we have Ariel who lives under the sea!

It was easy for me to choose the sentiment for this card because it was actually something I said to a man one time. But that is a whole notha story! *okie cracks up laughing remember that night*

But I do have to tell you I added "and right after that sign there is another sign.....DO NOT ENTER" It was actually funny since it was at a company Christmas party and the man was like a supervisor and I knew he was kidding around. He about died laughing when I answered him. I so enjoy people with a good sense of humor!

The background paper is one that I have no idea who it is made by. I got it for 10 cents a sheet last year at the LSS because it had a corner that had water damage. Which is a bit ironic since the paper is sea creatures! When I decided to do the card I did think of this paper for Ariel and I think it worked out pretty good.

Her flower is made with two of those wedding flowers from Michaels, the kind that come in a bucket. I added a green brad in the middle. I used purple brads in the corners.




The sentiments are computer generated in Microsoft Word. I used a Stampin Up punch for the sentiment on the front and then used the Cozzule puzzle maker to make the mat. A wonderfully nice person from the Cricut message board sent me this little tool. She said she never used it and hoped I could. Well I have used it several times and thought I should post about it. I just use a pen in the hole in the center and the wheel glides around the edge of what I am wanting to matte. It does require hand cutting but it makes it nice when I don't have a larger punch for matting purposes.

I adhered Ariel directly to the card and then pop dotted the flower in her hair and the sentiment. You can see a bit more of the sparkle of the paper in this picture, especially if you click it to enlarge.

I am not sure which princess will be tomorrow but I better get crackin with some ideas!!

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