{nerdspecs gets crafty}

~ adventures in rubber stamping & scrapbooking ~

Monday, September 29

Trees!

Happy Monday!

Just wanted to share a card I made for my mom's birthday yesterday. This features one of the two new Trees clear sets by A Muse - Trees 2. Love these sets ... so versitile!

This is my attempt at Becky Rusher's stamping style. I don't know what it is about this card, but it reminds me of her faboo cards! :) I also stole a trick from the Queen herself for stamping this tree. How fabulous is that? I also tried the cutting-paper-to-look-like-grass thing ... and I like the results. I outlined the tree with glitter too ... gotta have some sparkle, you know!

I just love using the Scallop Label for a cloud and Waves for birds. An old favorite combo of mine.

My mom loved the card - hope you do too. :)


Wednesday, September 24

Tomorrow!

Here's one last peek at a card we'll be making in class tomorrow. If you haven't called Smudges to sign up yet ... what are you waiting for? :) See you there!

Halloween Haunts
Thursday, September 25 - 6:30-8:30pm
Smudges Rubber Stamps (call 952-974-9885 to sign up)





Tuesday, September 23

This Week ...

I'm teaching again this Thursday at Smudges ... please join us! We'll be making some seriously spooky and fun cards that you don't want to miss. :)

Halloween Haunts
Thursday, September 25 - 6:30-8:30pm
Smudges Rubber Stamps (call 952-974-9885 to sign up)


I just love the combo of Orange Kitchen and Black Vintage on this card, don't you?

Thanks for the sweet comments about Hooligan! I did manage to get a picture of him sailing his pirate ship this weekend, and it's too cute not to share. Our living room has awful lighting for photos, but you get the idea. Check out the kitty skull/crossbones on the sail! And doesn't Captain Hooligan look skurvy? ;)

Friday, September 19

Argh!

Ahoy mateys! In case you missed the memo, today be Talk Like a Pirate Day! I've had a busy day and haven't had time to post ... but I'm squeaking this post in just before midnight. :)
















I had planned to accompany this card with a photo to introduce you to the newest member of our family. He has his very own pirate ship toy! However, when I tried to get a photo of him sitting in it, this is what I got ...











Ladies and gentlemen - meet Captain Hooligan Cuddlepants! We adopted him from the Humane Society almost two weeks ago already. I can't believe I haven't shared the news until now! He is 3 months old, and a tiny 4 pounds. He's the sweetest little thing ever - we are smitten!

That's all for today, mateys. I'm working on some holiday class samples while the husband and kiddo are in bed. Hooligan is running around like a crazy man, so I'm sure he'll be joining me in the craft room soon to snooze on "his" chair next to my craft desk. :)

Tuesday, September 16

A Muse 2009 Calendar Project

A Muse is back again this year with another calendar to raise funds for charity. This year the proceeds are going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of a very special A Muse Addict - Victoria. How cool is that?

You can get all the details right here on the A Muse News blog!

There are three different versions of the A Muse 2008-2009 Calendar available:

Square format
designed to work with A Muse square notecards 4.25" square

A2 format
this size (4.25" x 5.5") is perfect for all sorts of projects and fits well inside CD calendar cases

4-Bar format
this size (3.5" x 5") works with A Muse 4-Bar notes

All versions of the A Muse Calendar include 16 months (Sept. 2008 - Dec. 2009). They also include a perpetual calendar which is great for keeping track of birthdays and anniversaries.

There are THREE donation levels per calendar. The minimum donation is $4 per calendar, but, there is also an option to donate $10 or $20 for each version.

- + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

The calendar I'm going to share with you today was made on our camping trip over Labor Day weekend. See, it's so easy you can make something in the middle of the forest! :) I printed out three copies of the calendar pages so we could all have one to play with - me, Lily, and my mother-in-law. I couldn't very well tote my entire craft room with me on the camping trip, so here's what I did.

* pre-cut calendar pages
* pre-cut cardstock for each month
(black mat and colored backing to match color of month)
* had Lily pick out stamps for each month
* pre-cut some ribbons
* tossed markers, scissors, ink, hole punch, metal rings, and Twinkle Stickers into a tote

... and voila! It was a little difficult for me to be restricted to using whatever stamps Lily had packed, but that's what made it quick and easy. And tons of fun! :)

We stamped our pages and taped the layers together. When all months were complete, we punched two holes in the top of each page (note to self: you need a crop-a-dile!) and secured the pages together with two metal rings. Added some ribbon to each ring, and it was complete!

Lily has hers hanging on one of her locker hooks at school and she loves it. I can't wait to make more - this time, with all of my supplies at hand! Buahaha!

I hope you enjoy my quick & easy calendar and feel inspired to purchase your own to play with. It's fun and for a good cause ... what could be better? And oh my goodness - don't forget to check out the blogs of our "stamping friends" to see what they did with the calendars. Totally cool stuff, people! You don't want to miss out.












Monday, September 15

Halloween Haunts

A big hello goes out to the lovely ladies from my class last week at Smudges! Such a fun group. :)

** Please note that my November classes have moved from Tuesdays to Thursdays because of some work changes and travel confirmations. The new class dates are November 13 (Jolly Holidays) and November 20 (Make it Merry). **

I'm teaching again next week - Halloween Haunts! Here's a sneak peek at one of the cards we'll be making. I just love using the skull & crossbones stamp with bright colors! It's hard to tell in the photo, but the skull & crossbone images are glittered, and the center one on the pink cardstock is popped with foam tape.

Halloween Haunts
Thursday, September 25 - 6:30-8:30pm
Smudges Rubber Stamps (please call 952-974-9885 to sign up)


Monday, September 8

This Week!

Join us this Thursday for some fun Halloween cards, A Muse style!

Frightful & Delightful
Thursday, September 11 - 6:30-8:30pm

Smudges Rubber Stamps (call 952-974-9885 to sign up)

This was inspired by one of Becky Rusher's cards. That girl's got style!

Thursday, September 4

Frightful & Delightful

One week from today, I'll be teaching some super-cute Halloween cards at Smudges. Here's a peek!

I just adore the new Halloween clear set by Missy Ballance. This little cutie reminds me of Lily when she was little, so I gave her red hair. She loves when I color stamped images to look like her! :)

Join us!

Frightful & Delightful
Smudges Rubber Stamps (call 952-974-9885 to sign up)
Thursday, September 11 (6:30-8:30pm)

Tuesday, September 2

First Day

Lily went off to 3rd grade today. How did this happen?

She'll have a short 3 days this week. On Friday, she'll be out having 4 baby teeth removed due to some lower crowding of her adult teeth. :( Please send good vibes for an easy surgery and quick recovery!

Quick Card

I whipped this up for a friend's wedding a couple of weekends ago. I finally uploaded it to the computer and thought I'd share!

I wasn't sure what their wedding colors were, so I just made the card to match the wrapping paper I used on their gift. :)

Please excuse the weird shadows ... I snapped the picture in Geoff's car on the way to the ceremony!