Holiday Busy & Merry Christmas

Hi All,

If you know any teachers you know this is a super busy time of year. Students have loads going on and teacher do too. This week we are release testing (practice standardized testing), running a modified schedule tomorrow, kids will be out of class various days this week due to holiday concerts, tours, and loads of other things, grades are due by the end of the week for progress reports, and I'm sure there is something else that I'm forgetting right now. In addition to all that I have 2 more week of grad school before this semester is over and I still have to fit in the GRE test before I take my next class. So to say I'm busy is defintely an understatement. Thank goodness I've been in a Christmas mood for weeks because I've been making and stocking up on holiday cards like this one.

The Deets:

My Mind's  Eye Patterned Paper - Holly Jolly collection

Stampin' Up! Cardstock Cherry Cobbler, Mat Stack, and Paper Piercer

Papertrey Ink Stamp- Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers

Simple and easy card. I used Stampin' Up Textured cardstock. I love how rich this color is. Now I'm off to check my schedule to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. I'm sure I have.

Oh and aren't you loving the 12 Tags of Christmas from Tim Holtz? OMGosh, every year I look forward to two things: Kristina Werner's Holiday Card series and Tim Holtz 12 tags. I just love this time of year.

That's all for now.

Ciao.

New Layout: My Boys + Glee!

HI all.

This marks my first blog post since going on Thanksgiving break. Oh the benefits of being a teacher. But here it goes. My little brother Taylor came into my office the other day with these pics of him and my first god-son Landon. These pics are at least 5 years old but they reminded me of when my babies were little and so so cute. They are still cute, btw. But I just loved these pics and they screamed scrapbook me. Now I'm not a huge scrapbooker. This is only my 4th layout that I've ever attempted but I say it's my 3rd since my first one was so horrible (Let's just not mention it at all) but I've gotten better every time I've attempted a layout and I absolutely love this one. Plus I got to use some of my PapertreyInk goodies on it, namely the banner dies.



Sorry for the poor picture quality. I took this with my iphone. I'll post a better pic later this week.

Supplies:

Papertrey Ink - Stampers Select White cardstock, Banner Builder Collection Dies, buttons, large scallop border die.  Stampin' Up! - Pear Pizzazz, Not Quite Navy, Peach Parfait, and Real Red Cardstock, Pear Pizzazz, River Rock, Sahara Sand Classic Ink. Making Memories - Big Kids Boys 8x8 Paper Collection & stickers, EK Success - Large Scallop Embossing border punch, The Twinery - Marischino Twine, Recollections - Alpha Clear Stamps (from my stash & purchased at Michaels)

I just finished up some grad school homework and was checking out my google reader when I came across this great video via Glee. Now I'm not a huge fan of TV at all. I don't get the opportunity to watch much of it but I'm a musical theatre junkie (My fav is Cats and I have it on VHS - don't laugh. ha!). So enjoy.

That's all for now. Ciao.

Let's Eat: Your House or Mine?

My card today was made using a store bought card base with a pre-printed background. All I did was take the green printed cardbase, and add a few embellies and here's a quick and easy card.

So I'm having a love hate relationship with this card. I love the color. This is a great vibrant green but it's not too offensive. I'm loving that PTI stamp of the utensils. It stamps perfectly crisp. The Bordering Blue Classic Ink ended up looking fantastic. It dried a perfect light grey color although it says blue. Plus this is only the second time I've tried coloring with a blender pen (haven't worked any copics into my budget yet....more on that later). I'm definitely going to try this color combo again. So what is it that I don't like?? The sentiment of course. Everytime I try to use my own handwriting as a sentiment, I just don't like it. Staying away from the handwritten sentiments. I will leave that for the insides of cards.

That's all for now. Ciao.

The Deets:

Die Cuts: Nestabilities - Labels 16, PapertreyInk - Mat Stack 1 Ribbon - Stampin' Up! - Taffeta Ribbon in Basic Grey {110110} Stamps - PapertreyInk - Friendship Jar Fillers Ink - Momento - Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! - Classic Ink in Bordering Blue {102265} Tools - Stampin' Up! - Blender Pen {102845}

Take a Look: 2010-2011 Stampin' up Catalog

If you didn't know, I love Stampin' Up! and it's an exciting time because Stampin' Up! just released their new catalog yesterday. If you haven't seen it here it is in all it's glory. Oh and if you'd like to order,click here, then click shop now in the top right hand corner. 

Enjoy. 

2010-2011 Stampin' Up Catalog

Mother's Day Cards: Mom's the best

Hi All, 

Thank goodness TAKS testing is over. It was a terribly long week last week. I even had training all day on saturday, so I've been and still am pretty exhausted. However, I have had time to craft this week and I've been doing lots of it. I have oodles of orders for Mother's Day Cards and I've been busy busy busy since monday cranking them out and boy has it been fun. Please give me some feedback. 

Also I'm donating lots of scrap paper to a few of my favorite crafters in the next few day. If you know of any charities/organizations that I can donate to please leave me a comment or send me an email at angeebutler {at} me {dot} com. 

The first card I'm posting this week is for one of my students. He is so kind, and thoughtful. He asked me for 3 cards for his mother, his grandmother, and his aunt. I sure hope they like them. 

 

{Supplies}

Patterned Paper: SEI - Bridgeport Collection

Stampin' Up: Classic ink in Taken with Teal

Sentiment: PTI - Signature Greetings

Punches: WRMK Corner Chomper

Stampin' Up! 2010 Summer Mini

Hi All, 

Here's a quick video showing some of the newest products from the Stampin' Up! 2010 Summer Mini. I've my eye on quite a few things. What's on your wish list??

Click Here to visit my website to order. I'm ordering more (for me....he he) in about 2 weeks. 

Here is the new Summer Mini Catalog.

Summer Mini US Final Small

 Click the photo to download the PDF version. 

Supply List

 

Ta Ta for now. 

Angee

Distress Ink Foam Storage Idea

Are you a grungy girl? Do you love Tim Holtz distress Inks? Have all those foam applicators stored in little baggies? Want a great storage solution? If you answered yes to any/all of those questions then take a quick look at this video by Patti Behan

Is that the cutest idea? And guess what? Stampin' Up! has a matchbox die (114890) so you can make the boxes out of your favorite patterned paper. I would also cut some acetate to put inside the box so that the box won't soak up the left over ink and get mushy inside. 

I thought this was a great idea.

Sweet hugs, 

Angee

New Computer + Dailybooth

Hey everyone, 

I'm back and in full effect. <--I just love that statement. he he. Seriously my computer arrived and I feel like someone just pressed resume. It was a struggle not having a computer for the last 4 days but I think I did ok. It was a complete eye opener as to how much I use my computer and how much it has become apart of my everyday life.

I am officially a MAC and it's been a pretty easy transition. I've been a PC all my life so there are some things that take a little getting used to. 

1. The backspace button: It took me all of 2 seconds to figure out there wan't one. Not a biggie though. 

2. The customization: They seriously allow you to choose the position of the scroll bar arrows. How awesome is that??

3. Icons, Icons, Where for art thou Icons: When I first powered on my new iMac that was the one thing I looked for. Um where are my programs? Thank goodness for the MAC video tutorials. They've been my "Must See TV" for the last few days. 

4. Printing is a breeze: Seriously, all I had to do was plug my printer in, find a document to print (that took a little maneuvering to figure out where a document might be) and then press print. Can you believe the computer installed the printer all by itself with no discs at all. Awesome. 

5. Ease of use: I love the fact that it does what I tell it to do when I tell it to do it. Who knew life could be this good?? Apparently, many of you and I'm just finding all this out. Story of my life!

    Other than that I had my first skype conversation today and it was awesome. I was even able to accomplish screen shots to show my aunt pics of my little brother going to prom. Man, I've been missing out on alot with my "noncamerahaving-bluescreenofdeath threatening-respondwhenitwantsto-PC". I have arrived!!

And thanks to my new iSight camera I can now post pics to my DailyBooth account. For example: 

 

    Here's a quick card that I made today following Kristina Werner's 5 Items on My Desk Challenge.

My 5 items were random PP by Making Memories from the BigKidsBoy Collection, and Whimsy Collection, Polka Dot Basics II stamp set from PapertreyInk, Misc Card base from Michaels, Ink from Stampin Up! in Real Red, Chocolate Chip, & Sage Shadow, + Stampin Write Markers in Soft Suede & Dusty Durango. 

*I counted the ink as one item because I keep all my Stampin Up inks on my desk all the time, and I counted the markers as one item because they came in a pack. 

Here's a quick view of my workdesk - Please excuse the mess. I've been getting crafty all day. he he, 

Lots of Stuff, I know. 

Oh yes, one more thing. I'm having issues with my Adobe Photoshop Elements. For some reason it wont work on my new imac. :-( Any suggestions? Whenever I try to open a photo it crashes. I got the software in a bundle when I got my new printer. Is there a special one that I need to have now because I'm on a Mac??

Sweet Hugs, 

Angee  

Congrats: Teacher of the Year

Hey there. 

It was my first day back from spring break and I surely could have used a couple more days of rest and relaxation. And the time change over the break didn't help at all with my snoozing and oversleeping this morning. But it's time to get back into the swing of things and I'm happy to see all of my kids again. I sure hope that at least a few of them are saying the same thing about me. lol. 

I'm sharing a card with you today that I made for a dear friends mom, Mrs. Carter. We are co-workers actually and she was nominated for the Teacher-of-the-Year Award. I'm in such awe of this awesome lady because she has been teaching for 30 years, compared to my meager less-than-one, and she is so well respected by all of the staff. No one has anything negative to say about her and I just admire that quality in her. 

I'd just recieved all my Stampin Up inks in the mail when I decided to test them out and create my own patterned paper. I just love the look of this card although I didn't like the look of the full sheet of the patterned paper that I made. I used So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, and Cameo Coral inks to create the paper and used scrap cardstock to back it and stitched a line across the top. I added some Papertrey Ink Terracotta Tile buttons and handwrote the congrats on the card just before giving it to her. 

One thing I love to do is make cards without sentiments and keep them in my purse for moments like these. I can just simple handwrite the sentiment (very carefully) and I have a ready made card for any occasion. 

  

Stampin Up! 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog

Stampin' Up! 2010 Occasions Mini (Jan 5 - Apr 30)

Happiness Always

Hey there, 

    I've been having the best time making cards with all my new supplies. If you haven't already gone out and purchased the Janome Sew Mini you need to do that now. Go online and order it. You will be pleasantly surprised by how much this can spur your creativity. 

    On that note I have a pretty little card to share with all of you. In addition to my buttons galore and my sewing sweetness, I also picked up a new embossing folder from Michael's yesterday (So I totally threw away the packaging before I looked at the name of the embossing folder....Sorry).
I just love the pop of purple in the center of the flower bundle. Can you tell that the white flower is actually Stampin Up's scallop circle punch. Yes it is, Yes it is. 

Supplies: Stampin Up - Stamp Set: Whimsical Words, Ink: Bold Brights Lovely Lilac Miscellaneous: Cardstock and Ribbon from Michaels. Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Sultry Collection

 Hope you like. Let me know. 

 Angela

Your Too Kind

Happy Monday,  

    Hope your weekend didn't go by too fast. I had a super fun, busy weekend full of crafting, movie going, adventure, and socializing. 

Here is one of my many projects from the weekend. 

I got all my new supplies in from my orders from Stampin Up & Papertrey Ink and was so excited to use them that I didn't think to film my unboxing........so I jumped right in and put them to great use. I purchased the Janome Sew Mini from Overstock for less than $45 including shipping. I caught a great deal because the shipping was only $1 and I was able to get a warranty. As you can see from my card it's so easy to use and is totally fabulous. I

In addition to the Sew Mini, I also purchased all of Papertrey Inks buttons. Yes I said all of them (there are 21 bags of buttons on my crafting table and it's fantastically awesome.)

 Last but certainly not least, I purchased all 4 sets of Stampin Up Classic Ink families. (Earth elements, Bold Brights, Soft Subtles, and Rich Regals). These inks are so versatile and has opened up so many doors for my crafting. There is a color to match almost any type of patterned paper I have in my stash. (And as a scrap newbie my first obsession is always patterned paper).

 I'm so excited about everything I've purchased. It has really sparked my creativity (hence me posting at 11pm on a school night). But I'm off to bed now. Teddy's already asleep on his bed and I'm a little jealous at the moment. 

Stay tuned for my sweet scraps. 

Angela