My new hair cut, Shelby and Mom, a Project, and a Class

My friend Rae asked me if I'd share a picture of myself with my new hair cut so here it is! I really like it short. It takes MUCH longer to get ready in the morning now but I think it's worth it.

Ignore the funny face...I'm not a very photogenic person! LOL!

This picture is one taken of Shelby and me on Thanksgiving Day. Remember I told you all our dinner was being catered at the Doubletree hotel? Well, it wasn't a traditional Thanksgiving meal! I was very sad. There was a turkey but the rest was kind of a modpodge of appetizers. It was good, but not Thanksgiving. Now, the Pumpkin Cheesecake is a whole other story! LOL! Anyway, here's our photo:

Next up is a little book I designed with my Bind-It-All machine. I call it a Flip-Flap book.

The base of the book is a 5" square. The pages measure 4"x4 1/4" and are bound on the 4" side. The idea of the book being that the pages can fall in any order...i.e. they can flip or flap! It is a SUPER simple little book and I'll probably be doing a video tutorial in the next week or so. I used Sassafras Lass papers from the Mini-bundles. They are double sided so it makes assembly of the book even easier. I included some plain kraft cardstock pages as well as some transparency pages. I taught this class 3 times!!! It was a hit! Stay tuned for the tutorial but if you have any questions about it in the mean time just shoot me an email. Here's a picture of the book open:

And, last but not least, a picture of me teaching the last Flip-Flap book class this past Saturday at The Scrappin' Pad.

We had a great turnout...11 students with 3 young girls! They all did a great job and I'm looking forward to my next class...which is creeping up on me! It's next week already! LOL!

I have 2 very exciting announcements to come later this week so stay tuned...I may even let the cat out of the bag early! Thanks for stoppin' by! Katie

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a wonderful day! I am NOT cooking this year...and it's a first for me. Rocky's aunt is having our Thanksgiving dinner catered at the Doubletree hotel! I'm excited to see everyone. I chopped off all my hair and got my nails done the other day. It was nice to have a little pampering.

I'm hoping to hit the sales tomorrow. I know I'm crazy but Black Friday shopping has always been one of my favs. LOL! I've actually done quite a bit of my Christmas shopping online already. Found some great deals so far. Keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow! If any of you go out be safe and good luck!

Today's project is a little random. It is a bag-a-lope I created for an order. My friend, Sara, orders projects from me about once per month. She wanted Oreo Balls for her friend's birthday and I decorated this bag to hold them. It was super simple.

Thanks for stoppin' by today! Enjoy your day and I'll see you next week!

Katie

My first Copic color job...

Okay, so I finally picked myself up a handful of Copic markers. They are awesome! I'm super impressed with how easy they are to work with. I always loved to color as a kid. I have to admit, and most of you already know, that I'm not much of a stamper. I've always considered myself a scrapbooker. But, I really WANT to get better at stamping and coloring and such.

I purchased a few stamp sets from Gina K. Designs and I couldn't wait to ink 'em up. So, I did and I pulled out my new Copics to color the image. Here's the result:

Once again, I scanned not thinking of the bulky bow...sorry for the blur in the background.

I used my Making Memories Slice to cut out the patterned transparency label. The stamps are from Carolyn King's Whimsical Autumn set. After I colored the image, I cut it out and used pop dots to adhere it. It gives off a nice shadow in real life.

That's all I have for today! Thanks for stoppin' by. And, if you have any Copic tips I'd love to hear 'em. I've been reading up on the Copic blog, www.ilikemarkers.blogspot.com, and I've learned alot already. See you soon! Katie

Oooh, goodies!

I don't know about where you are but our gas prices have fallen...and I mean fallen! We hit $3.89/gal and suddenly we're down to $1.75 today! YIPPEEEE! The transmission is going out in my hubby's pickup so we decided it was time to get ourselves a van. Yep, I now drive a mini van. And you know what? I LOVE it! We just got back from Dallas today with it. It is a total dream. I really liked the Honda Odyssey so that's what we decided on. It is used but in excellent condition. It even sports leather and a dvd player and of course, power sliding doors. The color is Dark Metallic Gray which I actually like more that I thought. What more could a mommy ask for? LOL!

So, with the gas prices falling I find that there is a little extra money hanging out in my checking account. In honor of that I decided to do a little e-shopping. I headed over to Gina K. Designs and got myself some stamps. You may remember my post from a few days back. Well, my package arrived before I left town. See:

I got Carolyn King's Whimsical Autumn set, Melanie Muenchinger's Just so Hippy and Hip Hop Accessories PLUS a FREE set. I also picked up some gold cord and gold glitter dots too. I have a great card planned...in my head! I will hopefully have some stamping time after my class on Tuesday evening to complete the card. I promise it'll be good:)

I'll try to post a pic or two of the "Mommy Van" as Rocky calls it soon. Thanks for stoppin' by! Katie

2S4Y Sketch and Blog Candy Winner!

My friend Rae has folled the 2S4Y blog for some time. She always created the most beautiful cards from their sketches. Rae has made the 2S4Y Design Team!!! YEAH Rae! I'm super excited for her. So, I checked out the blog and it's really cool! They have weekly sketches that you can follow and post your creations for the chance to win a prize from one of their sponsors. So, I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's the sketch from the 2S4Y blog:

And, here's my take on it:


Sorry for the blur. The batteries in my camera died as I was trying to take a picture of it and I don't have anymore. So, I had to try to scan the card and since the bow is so bulky, it stands off the glass of the scanner and blurs the image behind it. SORRY! As soon as I get batteries I will post a better pic.

Also, I posted that I was giving away some blog candy. While I have had numerous subscribers (Thank you!) only one person subscribed AND left a comment. That person was Carolyn King! Congrats Carolyn! I have a yummy package heading your way.

In other news, my DH is working diligently today to secure a new mini van for me! Yippee! As I read what I just wrote I can't help but smirk. I was always the one saying no van or wagon but here I am happy to see a van! It is actually in Carrolton, TX so we will be taking a small road trip tomorrow. The pics look great so I'm really hoping that it really IS what it seems...since it's used.

Since my batteries are dead I coulnd't upload anymore pics that's all I have today. But as soon as the camera is back up I'll post some other goodies! Thanks for stoppin' by! Katie

Post edited 11/9/08...
Okay, fixed the picture. Much better! Thank you ladies for your wonderful comments. I forgot to add before that the accordian fold at the bottom of the card was made using my Scor-Pal. To add some detail I chalked the edge of the card and all the creases.

Score-Star and tutorial

Okay, so as usual I'm a day late and a dollar short! I'm really sorry! I was supposed to post this over the weekend along with a video tutorial but LIFE took control and it didn't happen.

I'm sure you've all seen the large 3-d metal stars. They're very popular in home decor right now...especially in Texas. They look like this:


Anyway, Sizzix came out with a die where you can cut 5 petals out and assemble them to create this 3-d star. Well, I have the Nestability stars as well as a star on one of my Slice design cards. Honestly, I didn't figure I needed another star but I thought this idea would look great on a card or pages.

So, for this one I took out my Slice and cut a 4" star from the Basic Shapes 1 card. Then I laid it on my Scor-Pal using the point of the star as my guide. Since we're only making one score mark it doesn't matter what line you put it on. Line it up so that the point is in the groove at the top and the "v" is upside down and in line with the same groove on the bottom. Like so:

Score only to the MIDDLE of the star. If you need to you can poke a small hole or mark a hole with a pencil so you can easily find the center. I just eyeballed it. Repeat this step for each point on the star.

Then you will turn the star over and align the "v" in the groove at the top with the point in line with the same groove on the bottom. Again, score only to the middle of the star. Like so:


There are so many options when working with these stars! You can emboss them, stamp them, layer them, and even stitch on them. This weekend, I'm going to try to make an ornament out of them! Here's a picture of a layered set I made:


Sorry for the poor picture quality. I had to take the pics by myself, one-handed! LOL! But, I hope it's clear enough for you to get the point. Thanks for stoppin' by and if you try this, leave me a comment and let me know so I can check it out! Thanks, Katie

FREE-10

Happy Halloween!!! As a kid, I LOVED Halloween. I loved dressing up and trick or treating. I wore my mom out. LOL! This year, my little man, Cody, has gone to Arkansas with Dad to Rocktoberfest. It's a 4-wheel drive convention. They hooked the Jeep up to the truck and left at about 4 this morning...hence my EARLY post! LOL! I'm sad that he won't be here with us but I'm very glad that he is able to do these types of things with Dad. Cody loves anything to do with 4-wheeling...mud, climbing rocks...and it can be in/on anything with wheels. Brian has gone to visit his mom so it's just Seth and Shelby here with me all weekend.

So, my post title is "FREE-10". That is a coupon code. Gina K. Designs issued this code and it's good 'til midnight tonight for $10 off your order of $60 or more. Plus, you get FREE shipping on orders over $35 AND if you buy 3 stamp sets you get one FREE! Geez!!! Seriously, you can't beat that!

Carolyn King is a super talented stamper! She is also a designer for Gina K. Desings. She desinged a stamp set called "Whimsical Autumn." Carolyn lost her grandmother to Alzheimer's recently. In memory of her grandmother, Carolyn will donate 100% of her proceeds from sales of this stamp set to the Pennslyvania Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association...always!!! You can read more about her story and see some fabulous projects with the Whimsical Autumn set here.

So you see friends, it just doesn't get any better! You can get FREE shipping, a FREE stamp set, $10 off, PLUS you can help researchers continue their quest to find a cure! Hop on over to Gina K. Designs and get yours today...I already did (wink, wink)!

I hope everyone has a fabulous and safe Halloween! Check back this weekend for a tutorial on making 3-d pop up stars. I'll be using my Slice and my Scor-Pal so you won't want to miss it! As always, thanks for stoppin' by! Katie