Poignant Thoughts

This is an email I received from Sherrill Graff today and it is so true.  It is why I share TAC with anyone I can find:

"started to think about what a friend said to me yesterday as I was bringing her home from the doctors. She had just had the news that she needed to go into the hospital to have more tests run. Uncertainty has set in, and worry too... What she said to me had a great impact. She said stamping over the last few months has brought her out of her shell and has brought sunshine in her life! Stamping has given her a reason to hang out with friends and to spend hours creating beautiful cards to share with friends. Stamping has brought more joy and keeps her out of pain. This is WHY we do what we do! This is why we serve and why we share what we love. We share and serve to lift help and inspire others. We don't just sell stamps we support friends in their times of need. May God bless this friend and may he bless each of us so we can do what he would do if he were standing here with us today.


I believe the light of Christ is in our hearts, lets find something to do to day to serve others.

love you, Sherrill"

Projects - Fun was had by all!

I'll start with Claudia's acrylic album.  She did this so fast!  I decided to take mine home and do it so I didn't look like a dud next to her!

As you can see, I took the pics before Claudia was done.

Now, we give you the man's version of the acrylic album - TA DA

Not so shabby for a guy, huh?

Actually, he did a beautiful    (um)  handsome job of it!!

Well, I've put enough on this posting so I will start another one.  See you soon!

Angels busy doing what they are best at

Here's pictures of the people who did not duck out of the way of the camera - LOL!

I did mean stamping but they are really good at laughing and having a GREAT time!!!!

The Angel Company "Escape Out of the Box 2010"

Claudia Gates held the Escape Out of the Box at her home and very graciously invited me to stay the weekend.  She is such a loving, warm and classy lady.

The Escape began on Saturday but I went on Friday to prepare for the event.  I had a lot of cutting and scoring to do!

First, I would like to show you a group picture. Since I was taking the picture, I'm not in it, but you all know what I look like, anyway.

Here's the group picture taken outside the house.

Bon Appetite !

My BFF is visiting from Colorado for a week!  I am so excited to see her. We only see each other probably twice a year. Did you ever meet someone and you knew she was going to be the best friend you have been looking for forever? Well that is Rita.

Yesterday she came over and I was in my studio finishing up some books I was making.  I asked her if she wanted to see something done and she said she would love to.

I decided to make something for her. These are the colors of her kitchen and this little chef is on her wall paper. On her wall paper she also has black, teal and yellow.

First I took a piece of cardboard and used my Corner Chopper to round the corners. Of couse, had I been thinking, I should have glued the paper on and done them together. I then put that aside for later assembly.

Then I made the cover for the ruled note paper. I firmly believe that when you nake a note paper holder, you should cut the back of the note paper chip board into the shape of a T so that you can replace it when it is done. That means the cover is totally independent of the note paper.  So you have to make a bar for the T to fit through and the make the cover.

I used another color that Rita has in her kitchen to cover up the top band of the note pad, taking into consideration that there is a tiny scored piece on top for the fold over.  I stamped it with the stamp Bon Appetit which is all over her wallpaper.

I  got down to business and made the front sheet that would cover the front of the notebook and look like it was made for it. Rita mentioned that teal and black played a big role in her wallpaper too. So I took a Koosh ball for each color and pounced Versacolor on the paper using both colors.  That was the background paper for the layered Chef.  I then used the wine bottle with cheese and grapes just like she has in her kitchen in Colorado.

I then took the large piece of covered chipboard and placed four really strong round magnets in each corner so she could mount them on the refridgerator.  The last two things to do were to place the stamped yellow top cover on with Scor tape and attach the layered piece to the front of that. The last step was to slip the T shaped back of the note pad into the the card board strip I placed underneath. I used Scor tape for that too. I really believe that is the stronest tape for the job!

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial and will try it on your own.

Rita has a sister that she thinks will be very jealous because they both have the same wall paper and all the same items in them.

Don't forget, to see it larger, please quick twice.  It was very nice to get to show you something besides christmas cards!  Please post your comments. I would love to read them.

A traditional A6 card

A6 cards are the size I have decided to go with. The reason may be because I have about 800 envelopes that size - LOL!

This is my first break from easel cards. I hope I can stay away. They are so tempting!!!!!

Anyway, I believe this is a Stampendous stamp but I forget.  I went back to my prismacolors and gamsol for this card.  The background sky is done with a ColorBox Chalk pad and a Kosh, another oldie but goodie.

I hope you enjoy it!

Easel Card #4

This is my favorite. I am not sure I can do better than this so I am going to quit making christmas easel cards. (Yeah, right!)

This card just fell together. I realized that the texture of the beard and the fluff of the hat should be different so on the beard, I used Liquid Applique. Any of you remember that baby? I used that years ago and now I am using it again.  I then stamped a tiny holly and mounted it on a dimensional to keep the "easel" in place.  Don't forget to click!