Winter is Here!!!

Winter is here, and along with that goes dry skin and chapped lips.

I made some Lemon Sugar Scrub, for myself and to give as little gifts. It was really simple, I adjusted the recipe some for my liking; and may try and find a substitute for the olive oil, and not because of any reason other than I think it clings a little too well to skin.

Yesterday, Zoe and I spent time in the backyard. She wanted to make a snowman, I thought it may be an issue that our backyard is mostly trees, so we missed A LOT of the snow that would normally hit the ground. We managed to make it work, and although he's a little homely looking we did get a snowman.

Somehow, his nose is missing today. She isn't real thrilled about that.



In the evening, I whipped up a card using some of the new things I got for christmas. Since we just moved, I haven't had the time (or the patience to sort through and find things!) to make anything. I got a Fiskars Continuous Stamp Wheel from my hubbs and I love it! Look how pretty the card turned out? I like the subtle stamped image. I couldn't figure out how to make it a better impression, or darker for the sake of explaining, but it worked well. He also bought me gobs and gobs of clear stamps, so that flower stamp came from one of the sets. I used Zoe's Markers (because they were close. Lazy? Me, nooo.... okay, maybe a little!)

Inside:

Cheers and have a great day!

Karen Foster Cutie Pie Line

For my kit last week as a designer for Lila's Scrapbooking and More, I got to work with the Karen Foster 'Cutie Pie' line. It's a perfect line for anyone with a little girl in their life.




This first card, was a little bit of a stretch, since it didn't actually use the Karen Foster Paper; but the embellishments I got in the designer kit; I used a Paper Trey Ink patterned paper (polka dot parade) with the stick on ribbon and rub on for this card.





I LOVE how it turned out; and can't wait to send this out to someone who has recently had a baby... now; could someone get on that, so I can send a card?

The next card used the 'leftover' pieces from inside the layouts title. I did run them through my Xyron, and then dip them in clear embossing powder, so make them glassy. I used pop dots to pop them up and give the card some dimension, since it's a fairly flat card otherwise. I also used my Irock to add some bling.

I saw a card on the cover of my latest Papercrafts Magazine, using a cute patterned banner and wanted to do one also. I was going to use the patterned paper from the Cutie Pie line; but since I wanted that to be the focus, thought I'd stick with a glitter paper from DCWV for the banner. You can't tell much from the photo, but before I stuck the banner on, I adhered the hemp cord with glue, and then sort of shaped the banners to stick out at the bottom, so they look like they're floating. This also used a rub on from the designer kit. All of the items I've used can be purchased at Lila's Scrapbooking and More, in Everett WA.
This card was so simple, and turned out very cute, I acutally used two of the patterned papers, and a piece of thick crocheted type ribbon for it. That's all!

I had a good time working on it, and finally got some more of Zoe's photos from when she was little tiny scrapbooked. I love how the cards turned out as well and think for as simple as they were (because even when they're simple, it takes me a year to stop waffling and actually stick something on!) they will be great for baby cards.

This layout I got from a sketch I found online. I've been throwing together a 'sketch binder' so that I can quickly pick one I like, and make something instead of waffling (since I'm slightly indecisive) for an hour before I can get moving. I cut the 'baby' blocks from New Arrival, and as you can see used the inside to make a card, instead of throwing them away.



Soon, I'll post up the project currently sitting on my scrap table... the Karen Foster Party Animals Line.

Also, Lila's is looking for a few more design team members to help us get more out on the store floor for our customers. She is looking for 1-2 people who has a passion for scrapbooking, crafting and making items using the products designated. The people who make the team must be able to meet a deadline and be flexible with product pickup and type of products used. On the design team, designers recieve 35% off their kits for the what's new section and 25% off all other items. If this sounds like you, go and see this blog post on Lila's Scrapbooking Site.

I hope you have a wonderful week!



Dawn

Wedding Card & Bee Happy Card

Here are a couple cards from recently! I know I haven't been posting often and I've been busy back at work, so it's made cropping time decrease a bunch.

The card above I made for a wedding this summer; the colors are Dark Blue and Silver; so I thought this would be gorgeous.

The lower card is intended to send to my Mother-In-Law who loves bees! I thought it would make her smile... now, all I have to do is get it in the mail!
Have a good one!

Dawn

Crafting for... ME?!

It has been a long time since I got to craft just for me. I am ususally doing things for other people; design teams or another purpose (not sure what it would be, but not just to enjoy the experience.)

Last night, I was surfing on Two Peas in A Bucket, which I LOVE for the challenges they host; and saw some adorable cards.

I used it as my inspiration and created this.

Supplies:

Solid Paper--Papertrey Ink, Plaid paper from my stash, Sweet Treats Cartridge, paper was my minds eye. Brown thin sharpie for ALL writing and WISH with a stencil. Bling attached with my iRock. :-)

enjoy!

dawn

PS: hop over to Dawn Bennett Images, to see some beautiful photos of the Olympic Peninsula, along with info on my newest Family Photo Shoot Specials. :-)

Just Because Cards Cartridge

Yesterday, I picked up 'Just Because Cards' Cartridge, and 'Life is a Beach'.

I haven't spent much time playing with life is a beach, but it will be perfect for when I start scrapping the Maui trip! :-)

I made these four cards today, and love them all! I love that it is sooo simple to be witty, without any thought.

Saving the favorite... for last! :-)

Because, really... everyperson who takes the time to read my little blog... is RAD!

Enjoy! Have a good night!

Dawn

Papercraft Star- Warmup Challenge!

Over at the new Papercraft Star Challenge Blog- it isn't officially kicked off yet, but there is a warm up challenge going on. The sketch looks like this:






I saw this morning, and decided that as soon as I got some of my Etsy listings up, I was going to do this one! I've been super into vintaging things, and using lots of twine, and embroidery thread instead of ribbon (who know's right? It's a phase!) and came up with this little gem. I really like how it turned out!

A real vintage flower... I sewed it to the Jute Twine I used.

I used my paper trimmer for the card base, and the base layer. I used Storybook for the blue layer, and the scalloped square as well. All of the colored paper is K&Co from their mega stack.

The Day :: In Photos

Today was BUSY! Busy for everyone! Today I had planned to meet with my mom, stepdad, uncle and cousins for breakfast in Snohomish, and then head to the barn and get cracking on getting the field where I plan to marry the love of my life in seven days. We got SOOOO much done, it's more just waiting now to see the grass grow and cut it again at the end of the week.

Of course, I did some photos of the flowers in the garden (I was weeding at the same time, so technically still working!)


I LOVE peonys and this photo has NO extreme editing done, except adjusting the fill light, and adding my information. I just LOVE being out in the sunshine. I know it's a common thing to say that sunny and bright days make for harsh photos, but sometimes, I can't help but disagree!
Zoe spent the day over with our friends, Beth, James and Baby Maddy. James and Zoe are exactly 11 months, 3 weeks apart. His birthday is October 14th 2006-- she is October 7th 2007. Silly thing is, when she was one week old (to the day) we were over at the barn Beth was managing for James' first birthday party! Beth thought I was nuts, I thought I needed to get out! She and James had a BLAST! Beth is like the worlds craftiest, smartest and most resourceful person. To top it off, she has a heart of gold. She also has a blog. I'm sure she won't mind you peeking around. It's not updated all that often (with two little ones, a home farm and work to be done... do we blame her?! Not one bit!) but they are wonderful photos added and information when she gets a chance to!

After picking Zoe up, we headed over to J&S RC in Smokey Point/Marysville to watch daddy do some RC'ing.

Adorable girl I have! Beth and I joke that 'Zoe and James are betrothed' the next part of the joke is that we'll gladly pay for the wedding, if they pay for all the counseling their children will need. lol. (I guess you might have to know us, and our kids to get that one). Of course :: she ended up FILTHY & eating candy. Surprise, surprise- right?
It was a great day, and I can't wait to hit the hay! Right about now, Adam is in watching TV in bed, Sophie is asleep in her kennel and Zoe is in bed 'watching' her movie (also known as sleeping). I hope everyone had as amazing of a day as I did. I just got a few more thank you notes made and written out for wedding gifts that have arrived in the past few days. I am one sleepy girl!

These are what the cards I am sending out this batch look like::




And--- Goodnight!

Fireflies in a Jar Card Tutorial Video using the Stretch Your Imagination Cartridge and I need your vote!

**Before I start---I also need your help to win over at the Papercraft Stars New Challenge Blog- I've got my application in to be a potential designer, and also entered a bunch of projects into their system for voting. The winner will get some goodies, but I think it's more for testing. Vote for any of my projects, show some love, I only have until tomorrow! :-) thank you!**

ONTO THE SHOW!

That's right ladies and gents (ha, like there are ANY men watching?! I'm laughing because I even bothered to type that!) -- it's another video. I'm still not 100% on the video thing, and since I forgot to charge it, and being as naive as I am, I wanted to try to shoot it on the low battery because I *thought* it would be quick!

It is a short video, at only about 6 minutes for both little clippies, but I guess thats just too much work for my little old camera.

Being that I was born and raised in Washington State, we don't have fireflies. Even in most of my travels, I'd never been anywhere to see them. I hadn't ever seen them in real life, heard about them much (other than my mom's stories about growing up in the midwest) or really cared about them until I was a teenager and had the chance to go to Lincoln, NE. For those of you who don't know- that is where the Huskers (the football team) are at, and basically I was shocked at the amount of open, flat space, cornfields and the deliciousness of the steaks. I also was amazed one evening during a bar-b-que that fireflies are REAL. The little kids, probably 6-8 year olds (true nebraskins (sp?!) that they were, caught them and were smearing them on their skin to make their skin glow. Gross, I know but pretty cool when the only way I knew how to do that would be with a highlighter and a blacklight. We can say, that from then on I've always thought they were some of the coolest bugs, and hope I get to travel around and see more of them. Adam is pretty familiar with them, apparently the also reside in Swartz Creek, MI where he grew up. My story is so silly to him, and the fact that I am mesmerized by even the thought of something living and glowing floating around.



I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the video, but everything was made at a 6" cut. I will also post the recipe at the bottom, under the stills of the card. I really enjoyed making the video, and I feel like I need to be a little more upbeat, or happy because I'm just thinking so hard to try and not mess up since I can't edit yet!

I mentioned the fireflies as flies, bugs and buggies (thats what Zoe calls anything smaller than a thumbnail, alive or not). So, there is no confusion- they are all the same thing!

Recipe:

Gray, Blue, Black & Yellow Cardstock

Metallic Pen (if you want a shiny lid)

1 brad of your choice

Cricut Machine

Stretch Your Imagination Cartridge

Computer & Printer (or you can just handwrite!)

I got the font I printed from Fonts for Peas- and they are totally free, you download them, unzip the file, install the new font and you go! I love being able to type up notes that look like they are handwritten, especially setiments that I don't have a stamp for!

I also need your help to win over at the Papercraft Stars New Challenge Blog- I've got my application in to be a potential designer, and also entered a bunch of projects into their system for voting.

http://papercraftstar.blogspot.com/2010/05/help-us-test-our-voting-system-for.html

vote for any of my projects, show some love, I only have until tomorrow! :-) thank you!

MPS Father's Day Challenge & Expressions Giveaway!

Over at My Pink Stamper, there is a challenge going on, with a give-a-away for a Cricut Expressions! I don't really need another machine, since I have two already. I have my original Christmas 2009 gift- a Cricut Create, and my January 2010 Gift to Self, my Expressions. I am in love with them both, and really love having two. Anyone who wants to play with me when they come over, CAN! :-) But, I have a few beautiful (and crafty!) 'almost' sister-in-laws, both of whom I'm sure would LOVE an Expressions as a wedding gift instead of a toaster or towels!

Anywhoo! Onto my entry!

This is the interior view, it reads 'i luv you a TON!'

For the MPS Father's Day Challenge, I went ahead and made a card for my Dad. He is the best father in the world, and always gives me answers that surprise me! He is the most loving, kind hearted and generous person on this earth, and never fails to surprise how well he knows me. (for example: he insisted on a shower radio as a christmas present. My step mom thought it was a little 'silly' as did everyone else when I opened it, BUT that was my most prized and favorite christmas present that year! I use it every single shower and laugh when I think about the things he just sort of 'knows')

Recipe:

Tanzanite Gemstones Core'dinations Cardstock

Sapphire Gemstones Core'dinations Cardstock

Striped Cardstock from my 'stash'

Plain Black, Brown, White & Cream Cardstock

Fibers from my 'stash'

D'vine Swirl Embossing Folder

Zooballoo Cartridge

Sakura Gelly Roll Pens - white & black

Pumice Stone Distress Ink & Inkssentials Blending Tool

Pop Dot Scraps, cut to fit behind the letters.

Enjoy!

Dawn

My Pink Stamper Challenge, green, brown and yellow!

Enjoy!

Dawn

I Think You're Cool, walrus card

I wanted to find a way to use my 'I think you're COOL' stamp, and didn't want to use the small penguin or polar bear that came with it. I thought that they were just too small! So, I chose to use the Walrus (W) cut from my Zooballoo Cartridge.

The walrus is cut @ 3.5". I cut the shadow layer with light brown, the main walrus cut with dark brown. I had to cut the 'layer' feature twice, once in white for this little guy's tusks, and the other in brown core color core'dinations. The only real inking and coloring I did on the walrus, was dot his 'whiskers' with a thin brown sharpie.

The paper I used was just a plain piece of gray cardstock cut at 6X8.5" to make a 6 X 4.25" card. The light blue bottom piece is cut at 2.5"X4.25", and the upper water type print is from a Sizzix stack, cut at 5.5"X 4.25" (maybe a little shy of that to leave a little border).

I chose to also add a piece to the interior of this card, and ink the edges. I used a light blue piece, but at 5.5" X 3.75" and inked around the piece with brown pigment ink. The ribbon is a white/vanilla grograin.

I hope you enjoy! Happy Mother's Day! I will try and get some projects up tonight using my new purple cow freestyle mouse and cutter! :-) I also have played A LOT with the Princess Cartridge today.... some sneaks coming from that too.....

National Scrapbook Day Challenges

I wanted to get up a post, with all my challenges in the order they should be in for My Pink Stamper's National Scrapbook Day!

Challenge 1: Mother Dear
Challenge 2: Getting Scrappy
Challenge 3:Thinking Outside the Box
Challenge 4:Like you Least
Challenge 5: Teacher Appreciation
Challenge 6:Kid's Craft Too
Challenge 7: Hey Dad
Challenge 8: Love My Color
Challenge 9: Take Shape
Challenge 10: May Day
Challenge 11: Colors of the Rainbow
Challenge 12: Critter-licious

I am so proud of myself for pushing myself and trying things outside the norm for me. I am also so proud of myself for making sure I got to do every challenge. I did a lot of them on Saturday, and busted tail to get done in one hour with each one. I finished the last two tonight. They were the two most difficult ones for me, since I knew what Cartridge was my least favorite (and I was in no hurry to use it!) and I had no clue what to do outside the box. I hope you enjoy all the weekend projects. Tomorrow, I will be cleaning stalls at Horse Head Quarters, and will probably do some photos of the horses, possibly getting their farrier work done, or whatnot. I also have some beautiful western style photos from last week!

Chow!

Card Patterns Sketch 60

Each week, I've been trying to stretch my mad skills a little further and further from my comfort zone. This week over at CardPatterns, sketch 60 was

I actually make two cards for this one, because I really liked it, and the first one I couldn't include all of my ideas onto! This was my first one, and I loved using the vintage flowers, but did not like what I kept coming up with for the middle!

This is number 2:

I hope you enjoy them! I did making them!

Sympathy Card

It's no secret on here that our son, Knox died at 4 months from SIDS. It's been just over 8 months now, since he died and his first birthday was recent. It's a horrible thing, and completely sporatic and random, as far as our son being super healthy, happy and adorable dying without any warning. Nothing can prepare someone for losing a child.

On the Cricut message boards, there is the job of being a 'card fairy' and I signed up right away to send cards to people who need cheering up, hellos, happy birthdays or anything else people ask for. My first mission to make a card for a family who lost their 9 month old son last week. I don't actually know them, their family or anything about the situation, other than it was completely out of nowhere and wasn't expected or prepared for. I was trying to think of the cards that meant the most to me when I got them after Knox died. We appreciated every card, but I think the most meaningful was a book from a friend, who had also lost a child. Her beautiful daughter, Kailey Pearl was stillborn. I've known this friend for a long while, we met working together and I grew to love her like a big sister. I really didn't know about her daughter until we started spending time together outside of work, and of course before I had children. I didn't know how to react or how to feel when she shared Kailey's story and little belongings with me at the time, now I know that was probably the most generous open-hearted thing she could have done; sharing her child's belongings with someone she didn't know very well.

Anyways, after Knox died my friend gave me a book at his funeral, and I read it cover to cover fairly quickly, it meant a lot to me to know that people can be 'okay' and survive something so horrible. For the family, I made a pretty simple card, because it doesn't mean anything extra for it to be fancy. I am also mailing them a few books I've enjoyed reading, and meant a lot to me. Like I said, I don't know them from adam but I hope that the books I send will at least help them to begin healing. I'm also including a letter I wrote for the wife and one for the husband as well. I don't think that people remember that the husbands are hurting too, people are too busy thinking about the moms. I know we had a lot of support, but it just isn't as mainstream to be there mentally for the husbands while they try and hold the pieces together, and provide for the family at the same time.

Gina's Birthday Book!

So, I have been working working working on this little book since yesterday at about 2 o'clock. Through naptime, through dinner, etc. I finally finished it this morning, and away it goes tonight to a friend for her birthday!



For her birthday we are going to 'Birthday Bingo Bonanza' so I am taking along my camera, and will be shooting all evening so she has photos to fill it with.

I love how it turned out, and actually like it enough to try and justify keeping it for myself, but since my blog is keeping me honest (lol) I made it for Gina, and to Gina it goes!



Here are the pages, and down lower, is a close up of all the pages....
For this project I used:
ATG gun + Scotch Quick Dry Glue
Paper from Bazzill, DCWV, Green at Heart, Memory Keepers & Bo Bunny
Ribbon from Joannes, Brads Eyelet Outlet
Glitter Glue is G Studios, along with the ink I used to ink the pages.
Flowers are Memory Makers
Of course, my cricut expressions and sweet treats cartridge.

The base is actually a Saltine's Cracker box instead of chipoard! :-)

I attached it all together with eyelets, and clear small zip ties, since I don't have time to stop and bind it! :-) Enjoy!!

Dawn