April Creative Crew Projects

April 2012 - Bye, Bye In Colors

Susie Nelson

"Colors are the smiles of nature." --Leigh Hunt
"I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music." --Joan Miro

Some of our smiles will be going away too soon. Say good-bye to peach parfait, poppy parade, pear pizzazz, concord crush and blushing bride. Use these colors with gusto this month!

I know I shouldn't really say this but.... I will not miss any of the Retiring In Colors!

I was given a 12"x6" piece of each one just to tempt me into liking at least one. 

So I played along with these challenges the best I couldColor Focus
Use 2010-2012 In Colors and the sketch below for the color focus. 

Make sure you incorporate your Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack for these In Colors

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I don't have much left of those colors, so I had to find a color to make what I did have stand out. Trust me...IRL the Concord pops way more then in this pic!

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree

Paper: Daffodil Delight DSP, Whisper White and Concord Crush

Ink: Always Artichoke

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch

 Catalog Focus
We're giving some love to our Simply Scrappin' kits or Quick Accent kits in this challenge. 

You can find these items on p. 188-189 or 187 of the 2011-2012 IB&C.

Make sure that your project continues to use at least 2 of the 2010-2012 In Colors

I am about out of these colors and I only used 1 on this project...oooops!

Not sure where I got the wooden tag from. It was all alone and a bit dusty so using it was a good plan! 

I had accidently ordered the Letters to Santa so this was a good challenge for me! 
Second part of the challenge is to use some of the retiring In Colors. I have a tiny amount of them, so I used a piece of Peach Parfait. 

I'm going to give this to my mom after I write in all the great grand kids names.

Stamps: None

Paper: Peach Parfait

Ink: None

Accessories: Enchantment Ribbon, Quick Accents

Holiday Focus
Mom and Dad, Mum and Dad, Mom or Dad. Remember those that gave us life. 

Make a card, a scrapbook page or a decor item that honors Mom or Dad or both.

 Continue using the In Colors as your main colors.

 I've had this pic of my dad stuck to this mini clip board for what seems like forever so why not add a little decor to it!

I don't have much of those In Colors, so squeezed a couple punches out for this.Good thing they are retiring since I'm about out of them! 

Stamps: None

Paper: Sahara Sand, Poppy Parade and Twitterpated DSP

Ink: None

Accessories: SU Punches Photo Corners, Tags, Modern Label and Word Slot, Enchanted Brads and Ribbon

Scrapbook Inspiration Focus

Make a mini scrapbook album--there are several samples here or on the internet. 

Use the 2010-2012 In Colors, and pattern packs. 

What a nice way to say good-bye to these colors.

This I made in MDS  as a swatchbook. I made them into a collage to post here. My son and his girlfriend went up to Duluth to the Zoo and down to the harbor. I'll let Katy decide if she is going to have it printed out or not. It is all in the In Colors I will add this to the right as a slide show later.

I did a second Mini Book. This one is of my dad the pages are 4"x4"  I have wooden coasters that I think I might put them on, but I am out of ink right now. 

Of course I did these pages in the in Colors also.

 I might kinda miss Poppy Parade...

New look!

I have been playing on MDS making Headers and Backgrounds.

I found a card on SCS that was so cute I had to CASE it....

here's her card
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2158154


The big fishy is made with the ornament punch and the other is the oval
The lips are from the Owl Punch
fins are leaves from the Blossom Builder

Cobbler Romance!

Another card CASing Amy Celona

http://ustamp4fun.com/bordering-on-romance-card/

I can't make up my mind which color I like best. I have a sample this colored in every SU Color I have.  Colored from the inside of the flowers out and from the outside in.

Stamps: Bordering on Romance

Paper: Whisper White and Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Large Oval Punch, Designing Frames Embossing Folder, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Adorning Accents Die, Label Framelits and Basic Pearls

I was thinking this would be a great card for a workshop, but getting the die straight across the bottom is not easy! 

My Favorite Projects

Got a FREE Shutterfly book so I decided to put all of my favorite cards in it.
Glad I had uploaded some of these to my blog at some point and time.. I didn't save these on the computer! OOPS!
It was really nice to see some of them again.. I just may have to remake a couple!
One of the  cards that made it in the book is actually a card that Laurie made for Clint's b'day! I really love that card! Well who doesn't love any card made with YUKON? LOL
Almost everyone of them was done using Stampin' Up! Products.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

March Challenges

Over on Splitcoaststampers.com the SUO Creative Crew Challenges for March have been posted and I thought I'd share with my friends. Get insprire & give em' a shot!

CCREW0312DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- DSP/Color Focus: March Flower of the month: Daffodil & Jonquils - In honor of the March flower of the month, use this color combo: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Blushing Bride, with any neutrals of your choice.

CCREW0312CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Catalog focus: We've used a lot of DSP but we haven't focused on page 216 of the catalog! So this month show us how you use the cork, magnet, On Board, wood or window sheets.

CCREW0312HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Holiday focus: Let's celebrate national crafting month! Pull that idea you've been "wanting to do" out and create it. You can use any theme, maybe you have an Easter project, maybe you have a decor or centerpiece idea, maybe you've been wanting to do something with fabric? Any theme is okay, but show us your artistic, creative, involved crafty side. Use the first attached photo to inspire your creativity.

CCREW0312SF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Scrapbook focus: Use the attached layout and show us a Bright, cheerful, happy page to celebrate spring's arrival. It doesn't have to be about spring, just colorful, cheery, and it just makes you smile 

I was accepted in the Creative Crew!!

I am so excited! Thrilled and honored!!

Who is the Creative Crew?

• The Creative Crew is a team of 6 to 10 SU! Demonstrators.
• The team consists of a mix of Card Makers, Scrapbookers (MDS & Traditional,) & 3-D/Altering artists.
• The team is a mixture of long term and new demos.
• Team members may be business minded or hobby minded demos.
• Team members are chosen on Variety, Uniqueness, Enthusiasm, and helpfulness.
• Team members are Demonstrators from any country 
• Team Leaders are currently  - indyemmert (Jana), Susie Nelson (Susie), & pattyb (Patty).

What does the Creative Crew do?

• The Team will work together in order to keep Stampin' Up! products fresh and visible in the SCS gallery
• Each team member submits a minimum of 4 projects a month that relate to the challenges of each month.
• Team members have a love of SU! products and are willing to share projects which are primarily made with SU! products.
• The Creative Crew is not just a design team; it’s a lifestyle!

Link to the right for the Creative Crew Gallery on SCS

Workshop in May

 This is a Multi Fold (Flip Flop) 

I used Nature Silhouette with Basic Black ink
Post it Note Moon :)  using the 1" Circle Punch
Sponged Not Quite Navy over the Whisper White, then removed "the moon" and  and used the other part pf the Post it Note to make a 'stencil'  and sponged So Saffron in for a moon.

Cajun Craze mat on More Mustard DP (from the Regals Pack) 5 1/4" x 4" Cut off 2 3/8" used opposite sides of it.
Used Not Quite Navy for the first part of the base 8" x 4 1/4" scored  at 2 1/2"

Cajun Craze for the second mat 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"

Sentiment is stamped with Black onto WW, cut as small as I could and matted on Not Quite Navy 

More Mustard 5 1/4" x 4" topped with Whisper White

 My goal was to use all of the stamps from the set on this one card :)

Oh, I forgot almost.. I used the tab punch with Not Quite Navy with a Big Brad

Trying out a tutorial on adding a custom signature. I created this in MDS.

humm wonder if this is true.....

Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape...

Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accuratemap, one showing

Not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.

Paper maps had some real drawbacks -- they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush.

Someone in MI-5 (similar to America 's OSS ) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk. It's durable, can be scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever.

At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great Britain that had perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too happy to do its bit for the war effort.

By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U..K. Licensee for the popular American board game, Monopoly. As it happened, 'games and pastimes' was a category of item qualified for insertion into 'CARE packages', dispatched by the International Red Cross to prisoners of war.

Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of Waddington's, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps were regional system). When processed, these maps could be folded into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a Monopoly playing piece.

As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Waddington's also managed to add:
1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic compass
2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed together
3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency, hidden within the piles of Monopoly money!

British and American air crews were advised, before taking off on their first mission, how to identify a 'rigged' Monopoly set -- by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the corner of the Free Parking square.

Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets.. Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since the British Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in still another, future war.

The story wasn't declassified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington's, as well as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public ceremony.

It's always nice when you can play that 'Get Out of Jail' Free' card!

I realize most of you are (probably) too young to have any personal connection to WWII (Dec. '41 to Aug. '45), but this is still interesting.

Inner Peace

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and  boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every  day  and be grateful for it, 

If you can understand when your loved  ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and  blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension  without  medical help,

If you can relax without alcohol,  

If  you can sleep without the aid of  drugs,    

...Then  You Are  Probably  ....

The  Family Dog!    

 

This was sent to me in an email and I had to post it!


     

Happy B'day to me....

I got some very pretty happy mail for my B'day!

Thank you guys!!!!

Some of my toys

I started out collecting miniature tea sets in 1984, then it became an addiction to anything mini. 

The construction set came first, then Ford Trucks. I have a bunch of Micro Machine Mustang cars too.

Yes, I am a girl! An old boyfriend had gone Christmas shopping with some buddies and he picked up little micro Machine cars when you press down the head lights come on! His friends thought he'd lost his marbles getting such a gift for a girl.. I was thrilled! The lights still work and it's been over 20 years! 

My FIL made this shelf for my tea sets, but I have waaaaaay too many of them for this shelf! It is made with the window slats from his old camper. 

I bought this one kinda out of spite! LOL My Best bub was huge into Chevy,  and he talked about Farmall Tractors. When I saw this at Toys R Us i had to get it!

These are kinda large, about an 1 1/2" long

This is my favorite truck. The doors open and the tail gate too. My boys wood bring me little agates, I have way more than a truck full. But I keep the truck full.

These little guys aren't even as big as a quarter. All the parts move. 

I made this one for SUO Challenge #40 - It's Fun Being Green

I did this to show off at my workshop yesterday too! All of the ladies have Lovely As A Tree, but are stumped for ideas.
I am trying to make a card a week just to show them and I think this worked out alright!

The layout came from a calendar I bought from Annie's Attic. there is a layout for month.
I really liked this one, its January's sketch

Always Artichoke Card Stock and DP from Regals Stack
Not sure if the Sahara Sand is gonna get this one booted from the challenge, it seems like a green to me.
Then again it is kinda like a chameleon.. no matter what I put it next it looks good!

I used Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip Marker for the tree.
Some Linen Thread and the Corner Notch Punch

Happy 50th Jerry and Leona

Doris asked me for a card for her Cousin's 50th Anniversary. 

I just couldn't wrap my head around Gold.

SO I searched the SCS galleries for Anniversary cards and saw one using this set on vellum.

I used some old Encore Gold Ink and Gold Thread
See keeping some of that retired stuff is a good thing! LOL

All card stock is Whisper White
I mixed some clear powder with inference blue and gold detail embossing powder. I did not want the gold to be over powering.

I am actually very happy with the turn out here. It's a bit thick, which is okay it will be hand delivered. I have dimensionals under each of the 4 layers

Pacific Point Dress

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I've made this one a few times and had to go on a search for the pattern again so it could be shared. I originally found it back in 2008 so I can't swear this is where I got it from, but it looks the same as what I have.

http://www.stampington.com/html/tempting_template_jj06.html

Card Stock  Pacific Point              

Punches (Large Oval, 1 1/4 & 1” Circles, 1 3/4” Scallop Circle)  page 210 and 212 IB&C

Designer Series Paper Twitterpated page 13 Occasions Mini (available Jan 4—April 30, 2012)

You can learn something new every day!

Here are 10 reasons crafting is good for your mental health:

1. Crafting focuses our minds on a productive activity.

2. Crafting allows  our stressful energy to be released through our hands in creative ways.

3. Crafting provides  an outlet for creative problem solving, which creates the  flexibility that is an essential element of stress  reduction

4. Crafting, like any  focused activity, creates a mild trance state which is highly conducive to relaxation and letting go of  stress.

5. Crafting gives us  time in our busy lives in which we can reconnect with ourselves.

6. Crafting is fun; and fun  things reduce  stress.

7. Crafting creates  a time in which we are free from worries (about time, money,  relationships, and the many other things we tend to worry about).

8. Crafting keeps us  productive and when we’re productive we stress less.

9. Crafting is a great get-a-way without having to go  anywhere.

10. Crafting is something we can do for ourselves (a self-care activity), and doing for ourselves (self-care activities) reduces  stress.

So, the next time the stress becomes overwhelming, consider skipping the beer and chocolate, and reaching for the knitting instead!

March Sketches

Of course I used pics my little MJ! 

I also used MDS for each one too! 

This one is for Rochelle Spears

http://rochellespears.blogspot.com/

This page is for Grand Diva's Scrappy Place

http://granddivasscrappyplace.blogspot.com/

Which of course I didn't read ALL the rules... No Digital Pages...oops. 

That's all I do these days! Oh well I still loved the sketch!

This is for Paper Secrets sketch #17
http://papersecrets.friendhood.net/t2357-march-sketch-layout-challenge-due-march-31st#23560