Quick Quotes Private Reserve: Wow! What a Weekend!

I love Quick Quotes scrapbook product, I really do -- their papers and quotes are designed in large part by Patsy Gaut, the "momma hen" of the company (and I mean that in the best way) and their classes at Creating Keepsakes Conventions taught by the divine Michelle G. are always innovative, fun and frantic. But a whole weekend of that? Yep, the Quick Quotes Private Reserve weekend was a fabulous, longer version of fun, innovative and, yes, those sometimes frantic projects. But it is fun, right? So getting a bit behind or just deciding that the folding on one envelope project is just more than you can handle without wine is A-ok. Simply creating the rather intimidating flower technique project in under 2 hours was a major milestone in my crafting "career" as those who have tried to show me anything involving folding, sewing or wrapping will attest. The other projects all involved at least one new technique, and the Sunday scrapbook that's almost done will be a treasured momento. The make 'n takes for a nominal fee during evening crops benefited a great charity (and they were cute to boot!) so we helped other by having fun = how great is that? And throughout all of this the giveaways and prizes kept coming, the music put everyone in an upbeat mood and we chatted, shopped, cropped, ate chocolate and were treated like queens = what more can you ask for?

This was truly the "perfect" girlfriend getaway with a group of fun, crafty friends from Southern Scrapbooks. We came home with a few prizes, a ton of free product and learned so much to enhance our creativity.. QQ ladies are wonderful hostesses who are bringin' the "show" back to Atlanta next year and we're all ready to "save the date" as soon as it's announced. Highly recommend this if they come to a town near you.

OWH Mid-Week Challenge: Christmas Cards!

I just love Christmas and winter cards and will be making one or the other for OWH until January! This week's "midweek" throwdown was to make Christmas cards. I did a couple using new Stampin'Up tissue kind of paper and Cuttlebug that I learned at a class and then glued ornaments I had punched a couple of weeks ago for my "game day dozen" cards (which turned out to be 25 because our Panthers played soooo badly, very painful to watch and also because I'll be gone next Sunday). At least my Steelers start showing up on TV down here a lot in the next couple of months.....

Hail, Fall! October's Come.....

Carol Bishop Hipps says it well: "Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." ... although I don't look at winter as really miserable.

October's the month when the deer come back and at dusk today one of the moms brought her newest fawn to show off... she/he is a real cutie, still has her markings and hasn't figured out how to get those leaves off the dangling branches.. hopefully this means that the herd or "Santa's reindeer" as I tell my nephews will be back. Steve and Rio took kibbles out for the deer tomorrow morning so the fawn will get used to his smell... Rio and the deer have a very sweet "me watching you watching me" relationship...



Rio is old now and slowing down.. watching but not chasing squirrels and the neighborhood cats, bunny hopping up the steps, sleeping a lot.. but still loves his squeaky toys and a good half-empty cup of yogurt ...

Next week is Quick Quotes Private Reserve in Atlanta and we are all sooo excited! Peggy from Southern Scrapbooks was chosen to be the "store" for the event and it promises to be 36 hours of nonstop creativity. I need to get my card mojo working or my picture taking of cards.. must have done 50 in the past two weeks but this picture, upload, wait thing just isn't in the cards this week...not yet, anyway...

"Homemade" Autumn Scrapbook Paper! A Mini-Tutorial

I've used stamps to add interest to plain cardstock for scrapbooking but yesterday learned a great technique to make my own fall-themed paper from my great Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Maryanne. Will definitely use seashell stamps and ink to make tropical paper. It's easy and allows you to personalize the paper with your own colors, stamps.

Supplies: reinkers, baby wipes, plastic tray, French Foliage stamps.
Inks we used are Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Mostly Mustard

How to: Use 2 baby wipes in plastic tray and add a little bit of each of the reinker colors individually in a section of the wipe (colors will run a bit but that's okay). Use stamps on a clear block; press down onto the baby wipe but don't "squish" it or rub from side to side.. and stamp, voila! Also used a gray ink for the "postcard" text but you could highlight with "stampin spots" as well.

Picture doesn't do this justice because it's stamped on an ivory paper but in person = wow!

Game Day Dozen #1 + a Field Goal!

Okay, so last week the Game Day Dozen cards involved gluing little piece of paper to a bigger piece of paper which was one of my favorite things to do in kindergarten, I think. Coloring with my Copics reminds me of the wonderful invention known as 64 Crayola crayons, a staple in my former play diet. Now I've regressed into childhood to another of my favorite things way back then = paper dolls! No dolls in this week's game day dozen (+ a field goalfor 15!) but I did cut out 18 animals from some divine Anna Griffin paper to glue onto bigger paper (again) for "miss you" and "birthday" cards for OWH = little kids love "little kid" cards, I think, and I don't see a whole lot of those in Dixie's boxes.

If the Panthers keep playing as bad as they are, and they don't put my Steelers (Go, Steelers, 3-0!!!) on TV down here in NC I will be cuttin' and pastin' up a storm because the hometown team is just kinda painful to watch.. Need to get back into the OWH card sketch challenges.. the birthday month stuff they had looked like fun but way too much work to keep up with everyday!

"Game Day Dozen" = Sunday's Cards

Scraps really will be "scraps of time" every Sunday during football season.. In fact if the Panthers keep playing such crappy football it might turn into more than a baker's dozen of cards that I plan to do each week during football season taking advantage of TV timeouts, half time etc. Here's the first batch = it's so easy to cut some cards and then use scraps and just mindlessly glue them onto "anytime" or some weeks probably holiday cards for the troops!