Great Memorial Day

I had a great Memorial Day. I got to stamp all day long. I made about 50 cards and am now caught up on birthday cards. Well, I do still need to mail them but at least they are made. ha ha

Now I am going to make a set of thank you cards to keep on hand.

What a great weekend :o)

CKC Tulsa

I am so excited to be going to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Tulsa this August with some friends. I have signed up for 7 classes. I  am hoping to learn lots of new things to share at the Fall 09 retreat. I am taking four glimmer mists classes - my new addiction.  I can't wait.

Then I will be taking my mom to CKC Kansas City this October. 

Let me know if you are going to - maybe we can carpool to KC or eat dinner together if nothing else.

Embellished versions of class layout from Spring Retreat

Sorry for the fuzziness of some of the pictures. I took these and retook these and I just couldn't stay still.

Hot Pink Rhinestones and Orchid Pastel Cat's Eyes ink on the edges:

Citrus Brads and Pink Cat's Eyes ink on the edges:

Orange Peel and Fruit Punch Stickles with Sour Apple Cat's Eyes ink on the edges:

Zoom of the stickled flower and scallop border:

I like this quote

"Imagination is the thinking of creation"

George Bernard Shaw

Quick Quotes Projects

Well, I know that it has been too long since I posted. Here is a picture of ALL the projects Melissa and I did at the Quick Quotes Retreat we went to in Washington state. We did so much!!! It was a good trip. One of them may be revised for one fo the Spring 2009 Retreat class. Can you guess which one?! Hee Hee

This picture is of almost all of the free stuff we received at this retreat. Wow. Needless to say, we had some trouble with our luggage coming home - too much stuff.

New stamp set and Chalkboard technique

I finally got my new stamp set from the new catalog. It is called Inspired by Nature and I LOVE IT! The samples here (plus a dozen more in my room) are done with the chalkboard technique. To do this, stamp the image with white craft ink. Then using chalks, color the image on your CS. My favorite chalks are the shimmery chalks made by Pebbles Inc. If you have more questions, feel free to ask. This is a very simple technique and can be done on numerous colors of CS not just black.

The one above is Not Quite Navy and Baja Breeze CS. The one below is Elegant Eggplant and Pixie Pink CS.

Mounting Stamps with EZ Mount

I LOVE Stampin' Up stamps. The images are so clear and crisp. And they coordinate with so many of the other products: paper, punches, brass, etc. But I also love the idea of being able to see where I stamp. So I purchased some EZ Mount and am changing my wood mounted stamps to cling mounted. Here is my first tutorial ever and how you convert SU stamps. There are a few steps in this process - but it is worth it in the end. Currently I am converting only my new stamps but soon will start on my wood mounted stamps. When I do that, I will add a tutorial for that.

Step 1 - Take the rubber portion of your stamps

and pull the rubber away from the foam

Step 2: Cut out the image from the rubber as you have done in the past

Step 3: Place the rubber image on the side of the EZ Mount with blue writing - leaving the paper backing on.Step 4: Holding the rubber image in place, cut out the foam to the same shape

Step 5: Peel away the backing from the side that has no writing on it. This is the cling side (no sticky).
Step 6: Ink up the rubber image with Staz-On and stamp in the cling side of the foam - matching up the edges. This is in place of the sticker that we put on the wood block. This step is optional. Note: Clean your stamp immediatly and you can prevent staining and allow time for the ink to dry on the foam.

Here is what you should have now, stamped foam and clean rubber image:
Step 7: Almost done.... Clean the backside of the rubber image with rubbing alcohol and let it dry. Sometimes when you peel apart the rubber and foam, it leaves a "furry" residue. You will need to scrub this off. Once you get it started, it isn't so hard to get it off.

Step 8: Peel off the backing from the foam that has the blue writing. This is the super sticky side.

Then stick the rubber image to this super sticky side of the foam - carefully lining up the edges.

Step 9 - This is it. You now have a cling mounted stamp ready for that acrylic block.
If you are interested in doing this - I have EZ Mount sheets available for sell and I promise I am cheaper then EBay (where I bought my first set of sheets).