LMac's Catered Crops

I Create Lists

So, what do you think? Is creating a list of creative ideas of creations to create counterproductive to the free-flowing character of creativity? Hah . . . say that three times chewing chocolate. I create lists. I get ideas from any number of sources and, because I don't want to forget them or want to have them ready when my design mojo isn't mojo-ing, I create lists. But, that's okay if I'm creative about the way I make my list, right? Here's my new list of ideas for a new month and season.

Now, don't hold me to this list, it changes a lot with each new inspiration. But, you gotta admit, it's a pretty cool list. If you're so inspired, you can make one, too, here. Have fun. I'd love to see what you create!

Clearly You Are the Best

This card is a special shoutout to my fellow nurses at St. David's Medical Center, 3East. They are among the most caring and competent nurses and they have been dear friends to me through the toughest of times. I am especially thankful for them today because they work so hard and now are having to pick up extra shifts for me while I give special attention to my Mom in the coming weeks.

The Off the Chart stamp set mimics an eye chart, right? When you get new glasses, the world is more colorful and clear, right? So, my idea behind this rather strange looking card was to add a piece of glass and have everything outside the glass aged and in dull colors, but have everything inside the glass be bright as new and colorful.

I edged the Inkssentials Memory Glass with a gold leaf pen and attached it with Clear Effects. Here's the recipe. Stamps: *Off the Chart, Paisley, Flannel Plaid. Card Stock: Very Vanilla (tea stained), Chocolate Chip, Whisper White. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla Craft; Gold Leaf Pen, Stampin' Write Markers Rose Red, Mellow Moss, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron. Accessories: Gold Cord, Brown Grosgrain, Hodgepodge Hardware, *Spiral Punch, Detailed Clear Embossing Powder.

*Items with asterisk are available in the Spring Mini March 1.

The sentiment on the card is "You are the best. Thanks for everything you do." That sums up the Women's Health Nurses at 3East for me. When I feel ragged and worn they know how to make things bright and new again. Hugs to you all. Love, Linda

140 Pictures

I got to go to my first Stampin' Up! Regional conference Saturday and had such a grand time. I'm told Regionals is a small event compared to Leadership and Convention, but I was plenty impressed. I got some great cards while swapping and when I downloaded my pictures tonight I realized I took 140 pictures. Wow. Most of those pictures were of the amazing display of project samples across the conference floor. I'll spare you all 140 pictures and give you just a few of them tonight. As always, you can click on the pictures to get a bigger view. 

Isn't that fun? I got to do that all day Saturday, just walk around the displays with my jaw dropped in awe of all the talented people these cards represent. If you'd like to see more of my 140 pictures, just leave me a comment.   

Inspired by Dad

Do you ever find an embellishment or paper that just tugs at your heart? When I saw the new Notations paper and Office Accoutrement offerings in the Spring Mini, ah my, tugs and more tugs.

My Dad started his educator's career teaching bookkeeping and, even after I showed him the virtues of Excel, he continued to track all his investments and his accounts with meticulous entries into his ledgers. When he died and I became my Mom's trustee, his ledgers were my map and still guide me in managing my Mom's affairs. I can just see my Dad's handsome handwriting on the Notations papers, so . . . of course, my first creation from the new offerings is in memory of my Dad.

Anyone who's scrapbooked with me know I love, love to distress. So, I used the art sponges to put the Chocolate Chip ink all over this card, crinkled up the yellow paper and rubbed it directly over the ink pad, and used this handy tool to distress the paper edges.

So here's the recipe:

Paper: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, and *Notations designer paper. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Stamp sets: *Off the Chart and Everyday Flexible Phrases, Well-Worn Words. Punches: *Round Tab Punch, *Spiral Punch, 1/2" Circle. Miscellaneous: brown grosgrain ribbon, stapler, my Dad's label maker.

*Items marked with asterisk are available March 1 in the new Spring Mini catalog.

Because I just love sharing my precious memories of him . . . Here's my Dad in the 1950s just starting his career. He had a joke for absolutely every occasion, so, I'll close with one of his favorites. He loved poking fun at his own aging (he said growing old isn't for the weak). Thanks for indulging me this post for him. 

An elderly couple were sitting on the porch swing on the front porch.

She: I can remember when we used to sit closer.

He: I can do that. And he moved over close to her.

She: I can remember when you used to hold my hand.

He: I can do that. And he reached over and took her hand.

She: I can remember when you used to put your arm around me.

He: I can do that. So he put his arm around her.

She: I can remember when you used to nibble on my ear.

He got up and started in the house.

She: Ah my, did I say something wrong? Did I offend you?

He: No. I am going in the house to get my teeth.

The Ongoing Saga of the Nemo Magnet Card

I can't tell you if McDreamy is able to save Greys-Anatomy-Meredith, but at least we can finish our cliff-hanger Nemo card. If you just joined us, in the last episode we created the magnet to attach to this card [here]. The plot thickens . . .

You'll need to grab the following supplies:

• Card stock: Black cut 5-1/2" by 8-1/2" and scored at 4-1/4" to make a standard A2 size card base, So Saffron cut 5" x 3-3/4", the blue flower paper from Simply Scrappin' Friends & Flowers package (a hostess set) cut 4-3/4" x 3-1/2", Whisper White cut 4" x 3"
• Punches: 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" circle punches, word window punch
• BasicGrey Magnetic Snaps
• Poppin' Dimensionals and mono adhesive
• Stampin' Write Markers (Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Summer Sun, More Mustard) and Jet Black Staz-on ink pad
• So Punny stamp set (a Sell-a-Bration set)
• Black gingham ribbon
• Optional: two-way glue and Stampin' Glitter

Start by placing your blue flower paper over the yellow paper, lining it up as you want it to appear when finished but do not glue it down, just hold it in place. Using the smaller of the two circle punches, the 1-1/4" circle, punch through both layers of paper where you want your magnet to be on your final card.

 

Now, put down the yellow paper and center the 1-3/8" circle punch over the circle you just punched out of the blue flower paper. Notice if you turn your punch upside down you can see where you're punching.

Still with me? Good job. You can adhere your blue flower card to your yellow card now and get something like this. Cool, huh? You can use this two-circle-punch technique to make a framed window card, too.

Okay, now this next step is a little hard to describe but if you follow it, your magnet will be placed exactly correctly for the base card.

• Lay your blue-flower/yellow-card-stock piece over the top of the black card base as you will when you finish the card but do not glue it down yet.
• Grab a (-) charge magnetic snap and your Nemo magnet you already made. Do not take the back adhesive off the magnetic snap yet.

• Put your (-) charged snap against the (+) charge snap on your Nemo magnet so that it's magnetic attraction holds them together.
• Now take the adhesive off the new (-) charged snap and place your magnet where you will want it to go on your card. When you lift the magnet off, the new (-) charged snap will stay on the black card base and will now be exactly where you want it to be for your finished card.

Still with me. Dang, one of us is really good. Lift off the blue-flower/yellow-card-stock piece and glue the 4" x 3" white piece to the black card base. Placement isn't critical because it will be covered everywhere except where the window was created.

Again, lay the blue-flower/yellow-card-stock piece over your black/white piece as you will when you finish the card but do not glue it down. Stamp your fish image on the white piece through your window. This way, you can be sure Nemo peaks through your window at the right place.

Lift off the blue-flower/yellow-card-stock piece and color in Nemo with your markers. For the over-achievers, you can use two way glue and glitter to embellish Nemo some more.

Now, tie your ribbon to the front and put poppin' dimensionals to the back of your blue-flower/yellow-card-stock piece. Attach this to the black/white/Nemo image piece (finally).

Stamp the sentiment "Best Fishes" with the Staz-on Jet Black ink and punch it out using the word window punch. Trim the edge and attach to the card.

And . . . drum roll . . . your finished masterpiece.

Since this was my first-ever tutorial, and a two-fer at that, please let me know how this works for you. I'd love to see pictures of your finished products. Now, go forth and conquer, and may the fish be with you.

Let's Make a Magnet

Drum roll please . . . introducing my first ever on-line tutorial. I'm so glad you like the little magnet best fishes card (here), so for you visual learners (like me) here's some more detailed instructions. We'll do this as a two-parter beginning with the magnet, but I won't leave you in suspense as long as that last Grey's Anatomy episode.

Our supply list (again, just for the magnet) includes flat bottom glass marbles, Very Punny stamp set, BasicGrey Magnetic Snaps. scrap of Winter White card stock, Stampin' Write markers (Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Summer Sun, More Mustard), StazOn Jet Black ink pad, 1-1/4" circle punch, and Crystal Effects. For extra credit you can add two-way glue and Stampin' Glitter.

Begin by stampin' the little fish (we're calling him Nemo) in the jet black StazOn ink. We're using StazOn because it won't run when we color with the markers or add the wet adhesive. He's looking pale, so give Nemo and his bubbles a little color with the markers.

Apply just a little bit of two way glue and then sprinkle some stampin' glitter on Nemo for extra credit. Use the syringe flick on the back of Nemo to get rid of the extra glitter.

Turn your circle punch upside down so you can center the image, and punch Nemo out (be gentle).

Make sure your marble is clean, but bear in mind that these marbles naturally have lots of defects, such as cracks and bubbles - gives them that all-natural look. They're also in unpredictable shapes, so you made need to trim down your Nemo-round-disk. You don't have to be too particular though, the marble is very forgiving. Add Crystal Effects to the bottom of the marble and then slap Nemo on there, face down.

Now, grab your BasicGrey magnetic snaps. You can find these little card-stock thin magnets at scrapbook stores, though the two near me say they're having a hard time keeping them in stock. I did a quick google search on "BasicGrey Magnetic Snaps" and found several sources.  

The magnet snaps come with an adhesive backing, so just adhere your (+) charged disk to the back of Nemo.

Drum roll . . . WahLah . . . Nemo is swimming on your fridge.

Tomorrow, same time, same channel. We'll add Nemo to our card. Swim safe.  Lin

Hangin' with the Best

Here's a shout out to all the dear ladies I met at the HOTS retreat this weekend. My big paper crafting tip of the day is . . . hook up with the Heart of Texas Scrapbook Club. (Just click on their name there to go to their website.) These ladies are just amazing. Their membership of over 400 of the most talented scrapbookers in Texas has raised over $20,000 in charity through their one-day crops and bi-annual retreats. To put it in David Letterman terms - here's my top ten perks of HOTS:

1. Learn from the pros and not-so-pros. Many of these ladies teach classes or run their own storefront or direct sales businesses. Some are just fun scrappers but all of them appreciate the obsession that is scrapbooking. Just through osmosis you'll soak up tips for organization, tools, design, shopping bargains . . .
2. Crop 'till you drop. I'm telling you, these ladies can crop . . . from sunup to way past sundown (3:00 a.m.!) three days running these ladies stop only to replenish and release body fluids.
3. Silent Auction Treasures. A guilt-free way to get rid of some of your gently-used stuff and pick up some dirt-cheap treasures. Proceeds, of course, go to charity, so no guilt!
4. "I Did it at the Retreat" Art Show contests
5. Okay, let's eat. Fabulous refreshments, you know, like chocolate covered strawberries! Homemade stew. Yummmm.
6. Retail therapy. Oh yes, we shop. Vendors like me provide on-site therapy. Scrappers got $10 of "Scrapbucks" to spend on-site.
7. On-site massages!
8. They have class - yep, classes on site for fun projects (check out my offering below)
9. Door Prizes! Yeah baby! One of my table mates brought home a Cricut! I picked up a packet of beautiful BasicGrey paper. Nearly everyone goes home with something.
10. And the best of all - Life long friendships. We gotta have our girlfriends, friends who appreciate our need to create.

Enough gabbing . . . here's some pix. (As always, click on them to get a larger image.)

More than 70 scrapbooking queens in the Temple Hilton Garden Inn.

No, you do it like this . . . Here's me teaching a few of my tricks.

And, here's the project we put together:

Congratulations, Terry, Margaret, pokie, Marilyn, Sharon, and all, for giving us all a fabulous get-a-way.

Is it a Card or a Refridgerator Magnet?

It's a card, it's a magnet, no . . . it's supercard. Da, da-ta-da . . . . This little card was the hit at my booth at the Heart of Texas Scrapbook Club retreat this weekend in Temple, Texas (more about that fabulous group of gifted scrappers later).  It's one of those really fun to make projects because it's so simple but yet it has a special WOW feature.

Our fish, we'll call him Nemo, is first stamped on white cardstock, colored with markers, punched out with a circle punch, and then attached to the bottom of a flat-bottom glass marble. You can find these marbles everywhere, from Garden Ridge to even Ikea. They're often kept in the flower arrangement area to decorate glass vases. Nemo's attached to the marble bottom using Crystal Effects, a clear lacquer that can give an image that very popular glossy epoxy-sticker look. Because it dries clear, we can use it to attach Nemo to the bottom of the marble and the "glue" will dry translucent.

BasicGrey makes slim-as-cardstock "magnetic snaps."  They're packaged with (+) and (-) disks with self-adhesive backing. So, I placed a (+) disk on the bottom of the flat-bottom marble and the (-) disk behind the cardstock on the card front. So . . . the marble can be removed from the card and placed on the refrigerator (or wherever) and then easily returned to the card. I also placed a version of Nemo on the card itself so that when the magnet is removed from the card, there's still a Nemo holding fort on the card. Pretty neat, huh. I came up with this idea myself, am I not a genius? It's the green hair.

So . . . is that clear as mud? Or at least as clear as Crystal Effects? Just leave a comment to this post if you'd like to see a more detailed tutorial, with pictures and everything . . . . and I'll put something together for everyone.

Card recipe: Friends & Flowers Simply Scrapping paper (a hostess set); Black, So Saffron, and Whisper White card stock; Very Punny Stamp Set (Sell-a-Bration set); circle punches; black gingham ribbon; glass flat-bottom marble (note the sizes and shapes of these very greatly within the same package); poppin dimensionals; Crystal Effects; Stampin' Write Markers.

Embellished Hair?!

So, how committed am I to my art?! I embellished my hair today. Okay, it's been kind of a rough go this past year with family illness, moves, blah-blah . . . So I decided I've earned a little eccentricity and I had a hairdresser in cahoots with me.

Here's a peak. Hey, wonder if an embossing gun makes a good hair dryer? Eyelets for earrings? Pearl-Ex for eye shadow? Somebody put me away if I start pointing that crop-a-dile toward my face (or any body part for that matter).

And here's me in all my gorgeous splendor! I love it! My new Spring do with just a little Glorious Green streak is the best cure for these winter blahs - I highly recommend it.

Here's hoping you find a fun way to embrace your art today.

Sel-a-Brate a Great Open House

Lonestar Stampers (a group of delightful Stampin' Up! demonstrators I belong to by having the good fortune of being part of Carole Bardin's downline) hosted an Open House this past weekend to showcase the Sell-a-Bration promotion. We all recommended our customers bring their cameras to take pictures of the beautiful examples, and yet, I was the only demonstrator who either brought her camera or had time to take pictures. Like my customers, I really only intended to take pictures of the project samples but eventually evolved into becoming the event historian. Only, I didn't do an especially good job because I didn't capture all of the fun the ensued. Here's a glimpse.

So . . . what all did we do? Well, . .

• each person who RSVP'd in advance received a small token gift from their demonstrator;
• we had small door-prize drawings every 20 minutes;
• there was an adorable and easy make-and-take that I'll post more on later;
• there were demonstrations across the floor of the new Simply Sent kits, punch ideas, techniques (like kissing and slider cards);
• someone took home a grand-prize drawing worth +$100;
• we ate delicious snacks;
• Carol Bardin held a question/answer period about the new Starter Kit for want-to-be demonstrators;
• and we had many, many displays of cards and projects that could be made with the Sell-a-Bration promotion stamps.

The cost was free to our customers and a blast for us. We'll do something similar to it again in August to enjoy the new catalog offerings. If you're anywhere near the Austin/Round Rock/Pflugerville area, you won't want to miss it.