confetti by lexi

thank you kristina!

 

i have been trying to create a quick thank you card to post in honor of kristina lewis from balance for several days now, but time has gotten away from me.  i'm sorry kristina!  please forgive my bad manners.  anyway, i just wanted to say a huge thank you to her for having me as featured artist on her blog.  she's been great for my stamping ego!  be sure to check out her great creations too!  while i'm at it, i also wanted to say thank you to those of you who visit often and especially those who leave comments.  they're such a confidence booster and just really make me smile!

so back to time.  i was so excited at the beginning of this week--the first full week of school.  waking up earlier + girls in school = more time, right?  but i guess i had so much waiting for just such "extra" time that it vanished as soon as i got it.  if only i could stay up even later or wake up earlier! 

we're also going to the beach this weekend for one last summer fling.  does anybody know if there are any stamping stores in or near panama city beach, florida?  i'm always looking for a good shopping experience!

gotta go pack...
:) lexi

lunch notes

 

every day my girls look forward to a little note in their lunch box.  i'll grab whatever is left on my desk or the floor or nearby shelves, often an extra stamped image, and using paper scraps and fancy scissors, turn it into a quick mini card to say hello, have a great day, etc.  these are from today--a little smaller than a trading card.  sometimes they're generic, sometimes they fit the season.  and lucky for me, they like to see their favorites over again, so i save the ones that make it home and reuse them from time to time, mixed in with a couple of new ones per week.  i've been doing this since preschool, so some of their favorites are a few years old and i've had to do exact copies of several when they've been spilled on or lost!  sometimes they actually forget to read them at school and search for them in the car, but if i forget to put one, i don't hear the end of it--silly girls!

:) lexi

beautiful blooms

 

one of my favorite of nichole's sneak peeks for beautiful blooms was this card.  i loved it so much, i just had to stamp a simpler version to break in my stamps!  i changed the color of the flower, opted for the cool polka dot and mini flower centers in brown over the punched flower and jewels and stopped at the sentiment.  and there it sat!  i figured it would be perfect for a variety of occasions and i could add the sentiment when needed.  as you can see here, i needed an anniversary card, so that is what it became.  i printed the sentiment and had every intention of finishing the card off in the same way as the original.  but then, by happy-stance it was resting on my desk sideways and a lightbulb went off.  i still love the original, but i love versatility even more!

happy stamping!
:) lexi

another weekend...

 

another birthday party!  i helped pull together an 8 year old's amazing race scavenger hunt birthday this weekend.  this party takes a lot of planning and organizing, so i wouldn't recommend it for a yearly event, but it sure is fun!  some tips: try not to have your first house showing fall right when you're supposed to be printing and creating and if you can plan it, try not to let your printer die in the middle of printing the clues either--although, if it does, know that you can quickly run to office depot and bring another one home in less than an hour!  yes, it was a busy weekend!  and, hopefully, the end of my technology issues.  maybe i shouldn't work my computer and printer so hard, huh?!

:) lexi

back to school!

my new papertrey ink stamps came a couple of days ago, but with the various back to school preps going on this week, i didn't ink them up until last night.  these little back to school essential bags are a first day tradition of mine that started when i was teaching full time (i teach very part time now).  i used to make them for my assistant, boss, the other first grade teacher, etc.  now that my girls are there, i make them for their teachers, too.  the essentials as you can see are: purell, tic tacs, tylenol & chocolate!  i usually include 60¢ for the coke machine, but another "tradition" is putting them together very late the night before school starts (!) and i forgot.  which also explains my obvious quick and dirty stamping!  i usually use my very old, retired "school set" by su!, but i was inspired to use my new stamps since they were sitting on my desk.  ink is soft sky & basic brown (su!) and the bags are mini paper sacks from michael's.

of course, i can't write about the first day without showing my girls, looking so much older in their uniforms, very excited about school starting!

i had to take this picture a few times because my camera lens was all fogged up.  i'm so over the extreme heat, but we still have a while to go.  what would i do without a/c and stamps?!

:) lexi

 

rock star... you rock!

 

he's back!  when you love rock star and you see paper called rockstar, you just have to get it and introduce them to each other!  i'd been hearing about this new line by dcwv for a while now and finally saw it at archiver's in austin on our drive-through to mignon's camp a couple of weeks ago.  i loved the 8x8 pad, but decided to buy the mat stack because it's perfect for making cards.  there are so many cool patterns in there, including some with foil designs and some with flocking.  i also bought a pack of coordinating adhesive ribbon--rockstar punk.  i let the ribbon guide my choices here--the plaid has a neat sheen to it and was a good contrast to the black and white stars pattern.  i stuck to blending greys and blacks on rock star himself--with black stickles and sakura stardust glitter pen on the guitar.  and i added a little shimmer to the star paper by tracing a few of the larger stars with the glitter pen as well.  he's a little more edgy than most of my other rock star creations, but that's what is so great about him--you can dress him up for anything!

rock on!
:) lexi

so now you know + winners!

   

i reviewed one of my "new" favorite tools, the basicgrey precision file set.  if you like to cover chipboard, these files are a must!  if you haven't read my article, go check it out so you can get into the groove with basicgrey too!  and be sure to tune into craft critique all week for more favorite tool articles by my fellow new staff reporters.

now on to the winners...

so when the first two comments came in correct and quick, i thought i must have accidentally mentioned the tool in the post--i didn't think it was that obvious!  after double (and triple) checking and seeing a few more responses, i figured you two must have guessed from experience!  there ended up being 5 correct guesses by the time the article posted, so i put those in a hat and pulled one, and that winner is...

shelby!!!

for the second drawing from all guesses and comments i used random.org and got the number 11, which was...

jodene!!!

congrats to these two ladies--please shoot me an email with your snail mail and i will send your chip board on it's way.  and thanks to everyone else who played along!

a common guess was anything having to do with the scallops on the cards, so i wanted to share what they actually were.  the blue scallop layer is from a dcwv pack of 5.5" square textured flats and envelopes--5 robin's egg scallop and 5 red plain edge.  i used a piece of the red on the fleur card--both colors matched nicely to the basicgrey mellow papers--i love those 6x6 pads!  anyway, the scallop from the fleur card was made with the marvy uchida paper trimming buddy, which i won from lisa johnson's blog anniversary party a while back.  i still haven't used this to it's fullest, but i'm working with it more to possibly review it too.

so there you have it!  thanks again for playing and i hope you'll stick around for more of my paper arts and party smarts.  i'll try to post a new card when today actually becomes day!

'nite!
:) lexi

keep 'em coming!

due to technical difficulties, my craft critique article didn't post today, but should be there tomorrow.  so that means a little more time to guess if you want to!  here's a quick pic of the chip board assortment...

 

the "sampling" includes 6 punch out pages--the frames, flourishes and elements you see on top + an uppercase alphabet, a lowercase alphabet, numbers & symbols, tags & tabs and nature shapes (the bird along with some flowers, leaves and other winged creatures).  remember, two sets are up for grabs and now our time frame has expanded...

1. picked randomly from any correct answers posted before my article posts on *tuesday*  (i will compare comment times to the posting time)
2. picked randomly from all answers (correct or not) & comments posted by 11:59 pm cst *tuesday* night--after the article has been posted.

according to typepad, i've had about 700+ page views the last two days, but so far there are only 20 guesses, so your chances are good for both drawings unless more people speak up!  does seeing the chipboard help?!  even if you don't want to guess, you can come back after the article posts on craft critique and leave a comment for the second drawing.  just be sure to leave any guesses or comments on the original post below...

thanks for playing!
:) lexi

no stamping = 2 cards + a contest

 
 

so i said i was going to try to get some stamping done, and while i didn't stamp, i did create a couple of cards!  i spent a good part of today working on my first craft critique article on a favorite tool, which i used while creating these cards.  which brings me to the contest...

try to guess what tool i'm reviewing with these cards and i'll give you a sampling of the chipboard shapes that the birdy and fleur de lis came from.  it was this huge pack from joann's that ended up on the clearance table for cheap cheap and i don't think i could ever use them all!  actually, let's make that *two* prize packages...

1. picked randomly from any correct answers posted before my article posts on monday (i will compare comment times to the posting time)
2. picked randomly from all answers (correct or not) & comments posted by 11:59 pm cst monday night

the fine print:  only one guess per person & i will post both winners on tuesday.  good luck! 

this is my first contest give-a-way, so i really have no idea what kind of response i'll get.  actually, my hits have increased dramatically since nichole's honorable mention the other day--are you still reading?!  so, feel free to pass it on or keep it to yourself to increase your odds!  and don't forget to stop by craft critique on monday to read the article.

looking forward to your guesses...
:) lexi

are you ready for something new?

 

today was the day for high school musical 2!  it happened to work out for one of mignon's friends to have her birthday party be a premiere party for the eagerly anticipated sequel tonight.  i did the invitation a couple of weeks ago and the matching cake today.  i went through a couple of ups and downs with the cake, but in the end, i like it and the girls loved it!  the topping is popcorn with melted marshmallows to hold it together--that was a hit!

here's the invitation and vip pass...

 

no stamping, but my tools came in handy for making the film detail on the sides.

thanks for stopping by!  i hope to get some new stamping done this weekend while i print some notepads, so stay tuned...

:) lexi

is it still my birthday?!

 

i was so excited to get a guest star stamper email today letting me know that this papertrey ink borders & corners entry received an honorable mention!  many thanks to nichole!  i have this card posted on splitcoast, too, and linked it yesterday since it was my first clear card--the birthday cake being my second.  but i figured i'd post it here today in honor of it's 'mention!  i love this card, but it really was so hard to photograph--the acetate picked up every glare, was hard to see, etc.  so i photographed it two ways--the one on nichole's website is the standing view and this is the flat view.  the flat one shows the layers all the way through, while the standing one shows the clear acetate card better.  if you want more details, click here.

and welcome to all of you who followed the link on nichole's blog and thank you so much for stopping by!

:) lexi

another year wiser?

 

probably not--but definitely another year older!  38 to be exact.  my "day" started at midnight--how fun that my birthday coincided with a papertrey ink release + release party.  what a great opportunity to buy myself a present!  meanwhile, the make a wish set by gina k. arrived this week too and this stamp was perfect for a birthday card.  if you don't know about stamps for a cause, be sure to follow those links--$7.00 from each set sold goes directly to make a wish!  and there's another set for autism.  very cool!

anyway, this is my second clear card.  i've been dying to create one and finally did for one of the dirty dares at splitcoast.  you can see that first one here.  i like the look, but have to work on placement and maybe adding some stamping to the acetate itself.  i was in a bit of a rush to post before my birthday ends, so this one is pretty simple--with sparkle and shine, of course!  one cool layout feature is that the sentiment is stamped on the pink layer, which is placed on the inside back of the clear card.  and i used the two-scallop-squares + ribbon-over-seam trick for the blue layer.  i love how you can stack layers on both the front and back and see them all because of the clear card base.  i see a lot of fun with this when i have a little more time!

enjoy!
:) lexi

dancing boots

 

i found time today to play with a couple of my new toys from archivers in austin.  of course when i saw this boot and sentiment (both dawn houser), i had to have them!  i'm definitely no cowgirl, but my four years in texas converted me just a little!  here, i've paired them up with a large watercolor card + basic grey paper and ribbon.  i'm not sure how successful i was--i have tried to use this ribbon so many times, but for some reason find it hard to work with.  so it's not quite perfect, but i like it anyway!

:) lexi

success!

 

the little camper had a great time at camp, was happy to be home and wants to go back next year!  and it's nice to have our family back together again.  this is a picture of some stationery i made for mignon to give to her counselors as a little thank you.  more blue and orange + one of my go-to layouts for quick personalized printed stationery.  we got to meet counselors and friends on v-day--it was fun to see how they lived and played for the last two weeks...

she showed off her top bunk to her happy little sister!  and then we got to observe water activities in the lake.  even after swimming in it every day for two weeks, mignon couldn't handle the "seaweed! seaweed! seaweed!" in her hair--shaking and screaming it off as she climbed out!

we also had a nice little weekend at the rustic canyon of the eagles on lake buchanan.  we had limited internet access, mostly near the main lodge, so i only had time to read a little email and let mignon check in on her webkinz.  but, there was a cute pool and beautiful views...

 

and sleepy kids!

another fun part of the trip was a visit to archiver's on my way through austin--thanks to geeta for the tip!  i do love to shop!  especially since we have only one scrapbook store and michael's here.  hopefully i can play with my new toys and post the results soon...

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

back to tx & meanwhile (enabler alert)...

it's time to head back to texas and pick up my (hopefully) happy little camper.  this is one of the few shots of her from the daily photos.  she had a special knack for being behind people when the camera clicked, only having an arm or the top of her head showing--but i could tell!   colleen is sooo excited and can't wait to have her big sis home!  i just hope that mignon is happy to see her too or she will be crushed. 

i may not be able to post for a few days, so i wanted to point out that it's hambly week at craft critique.  while i have not yet tried this company's products, i have definitely been enabled--they look awesome and sound like so much fun to play with.  i especially like the transparencies.  and the patterns and cool images.  woodgrain, trendy colors & shapes, owls, birds, chandeliers... wow!

so, go check it out and get enabled too & i'll be back soon!
:) lexi

more dirty dares!

 

a sketch challenge + shades of pink + outside of the box technique + papertrey ink clear stamps = another dirty dare '07 card!  su!'s coordinating papers, accents & elements and inks truly made this card a breeze.  for more details, click here; and if you love pink like i do, check out the rest of the shades of pink gallery, too...

think pink!
:) lexi

two more cards...

 

four more dirty dare '07 challenges met.  once again, if you are a splitcoast fan club member, you can see the details here and here.

enjoy!
:) lexi

better late than never!

 

i was so busy with camp preps, going out of town and catching up with life back at home to participate in the dare to get dirty challenges over at splitcoast last week.  lucky for me, the galleries and chats are still open for a little while longer, so i can play a few of them now!  so here is a card that covers three challenges at one time.  if you're a fan clubber, you can check out the details over there!

:) lexi

hawaiian rock star

 

my affair with rock star continues!  i was asked to join a tropical a muse card swap, but didn't have any of the tropical a muse stamps.  so, with a little help from an ultra fine pigment liner and copic markers, rock star is all set to rock the luau with a doodled lei and hawaiian t-shirt!  the retired su! tropical blossoms helped to create the perfect backdrop and fruit punch stickles added just the right amount of sparkle to his guitar.  what will i do next with this cute little guy?!

aloha!
:) lexi

news from camp!

 

here's a close up of the orange and blue stationery i made for mignon to take to camp--with a letter written on it!  i stalk the website regularly to see pictures, but this was even better.  short, sweet and to the point--it sounds like she's having as much fun as the pictures seem to show!

1 week down, 1 to go...
:) lexi