Sneak Peek - Elements Of Style

Tonight's Lesson From The Craft Room:  There Will Be Peace

My heart is heavy this evening.  Tomorrow my brother will say goodbye to his first fur friend, Murphy.  I know it will be a difficult day and a difficult journey from sadness to peace.  A high school friend will also be at a hospital as his father is taken off of a ventilator - I cannot imagine the difficulty the day will bring.  And yet, in all of this, I know that peace will come.  It may be days, weeks, or years, but at some point I am confident there will be peace.

Tonight's card was made for the sketch challenge on SCS and I've included a sneak peek set, Elements of Style, that was given to us at Leadership this year.  It will come out in the May mini catalog!  I felt the sentiment fit perfectly into my life right now.  I stamped one of the background images on the largest layer of very vanilla card stock.  A few of the other images in the set found their way onto the smaller very vanilla panels.  I ran the smaller black panel through the Big Shot with the Finnial Press embossing folder.  I hope you like it and I hope you are at peace.

Paper Pieced Birthday Card

I am playing around in the craft room today - making my final card preparations for this week's stamp-a-stack.  This is a paper-pieced card that will be including in the stamp-a-stack.  So simple and fun to make!  The frosting is my new secret :)  I'll have to make a video to show you how it's done!

Bitty Birthday and Faux Designer Paper

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  It's OK To Not Know

Lately I've been contemplating some of the "big" questions - Why am I here?  What is my purpose?  I keep thinking that a lightening bolt will strike and I'll have all the answers.  As I walked Buddy this morning, my head spinning with the question of why I am here, I realized that it's okay to not have all the answers.  What's important is that I keep asking the question and that I keep searching for the purpose I am here to fulfill.  I hope your journey is going well!

I was very excited by today's color challenge on SCS - pale plum, perfect plum, soft suede and neutrals of your choice - what a great mix of colors that I would never, in a million years, have put together!  I created some "faux" designer paper by stamping the itty bitty background and then the circle on some whisper white card stock.  The cake was stamped on whisper white with black staz-on and then colored in with markers.  I added a bit of glitz on the frosting and also tiny dots of glitz on the "faux" paper.  I hope you like it!

stamps:  Bitty Birthday, Circle Circus, Short & Sweet, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
card stock:  Whisper White, Soft Suede, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum
ink:  black staz-on, perfect plum, pale plum, soft suede, yoyo yellow
accessories:  tag punch, large tag punch, dazzling diamonds, white organza ribbon, scallop border punch

Two-Step Bird Punch Birthday Card

Today's card is a copy I made of a swap I received from Kay Smith at Leadership (Thanks Kay!!!).  I thought this card was just gorgeous and I know my Stamp-A-Stack participants are going to love it!  I just changed a few tiny things (changed the greeting and subtracted a large oval punch).  I hope you like it as much as I do!

Beyond Description!

Tonight's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Some Things Are Beyond Description!

I know you won't believe me, but this card started out with the thought of spring for this week's Clean and Simple challenge on SCS and a blank very vanilla piece of card stock!  Then I added some score lines and a mask over the center of the card and picked up a flower from the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set.  I stamped the flower in pastel colors - blue, pink, yellow...really, I mean it!  If you look closely enough you may actually be able to detect those flowers :)  And then my body seemed to take over and all heck broke loose in the craft room!  There were sponges, ink pads and stamp sets flying!  I crossed color family boundaries and went through at least 5 stamp sets...so much for clean and simple!  But I figure the design itself is clean and simple - only stamps, paper and ink...is that okay? :)  Some things are just beyond description - I really wish I could tell you how this card came about...all I know is that I went a little nuts and somehow this popped out!  I hope you like it :)

Chickadee Two-Step Bird Punch

I fell in love with this little chickadee that Ann Fitzgerald created with the two-step bird punch!  She even has directions for how to make it on her blog here!  Thanks Ann!  I followed Ann's instructions and added some scoring and a greeting to the very vanilla card.  Hope you like it!

Clean and Simple Masculine Birthday

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Find Your Bliss!

It snowed last night.  Buddy was sooooo excited to go outside!  We went for a beautiful, peaceful walk and then stopped in the park and sat in the snow and watched the neighborhood children sled down the hill.  Well, Buddy watched the children and I watched Buddy.  I could tell this was his perfect place - a beautiful dog lying in the snow watching the distance.  He found his bliss.  I find my bliss when I am in the craft room creating - it's that perfect place - a perfect sense of "rightness."  What's your bliss?  If you're not sure, keep searching - you will definitely know when you find it!

Today's card came together very quickly - it actually came into my mind when I woke up this morning.  I stamped the dot, dot, dot stamp as a background in chocolate chip (I stamped off the chocolate chip once on a piece of scrap paper before stamping onto the card).  The Four Square birthday greeting is also stamped in chocolate chip.  I punched it out with a 1 1/4" square punch and adhered it to a 2"x2" square of chocolate chip card stock.  I popped up the greeting/chocolate chip squares on dimensionals and adhered it to the card.  So simple, yet it packs a graphic punch!  I hope you like it!

stamps:  Four Square, Dot, Dot, Dot
card stock:  Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
ink:  chocolate chip
accessories:  1 1/4" square punch, dimensionals

Featured Stamper Inspiration

The featured stamper in tonight's featured stamper challenge on SCS was HamiltonGal and I chose this card as my inspiration.  For the challenge we are required to change at least 2 things about the card.  I changed the greeting, ribbon color, type of bow, butterfly color and embellishments. This card was so simple to make - I fell in love with the inspiration piece the minute I saw it! This 2-layer faux bow is really easy to make and it mails easily too. You can check out the video for how to make a single-layer faux bow on an earlier post in my blog or on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/mwecksler.  I hope you like the card!  Thanks HamiltonGal!

stamps:  Well Scripted
card stock:  Very Vanilla, Basic Black
ink:  basic black
accessories: beautiful wings embosslit, big shot, scor-it board, 5/8" black satin ribbon, metal gems

Bitty Box Valentine

We have friends coming over for dinner tonight to share Valentine's Day with us.  I thought it would be sweet to prepare a treat for each one of them and the Bitty Box die was the perfect solution!  You can make this little box with just half a sheet of standard 8 1/2 x 11 paper - something that I love about this die since so many of them use odd sizes of paper.  I added a 2x2 square of Sweet Pea designer paper and a few punches (scallop circle, 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches).  The ribbon is our yummy Pretty In Pink satin ribbon.  The cute owl is from the Love Bandits stamp set - I'm in love with this little guy :)  Now I just need to decide what to fill the boxes with...candy hearts, pink M&M's...The bigger challenge will be to not eat what I end up putting inside of them :)  Happy Valentine's Day to you and the ones you love!!!  (P.S.  This box was inspired by a swap I received from Chi Nguyen at Leadership - thanks Chi!!!)

Houses In A Grid

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Say "Hello!"

I walk Buddy every day and I am now making a conscious effort to greet everyone that we pass.  It can be so easy to keep my head down, watch my feet, and just walk by.  What if our "hello" made someone's day?  What if our "hello" was the only sense of connection that person felt all day?  What if our "hello" made us smile inside?  I find that saying "hello" to the people (and furry friends) that I pass, puts a smile on my face.  It also lets someone else know that you acknowledge them.  Hello! :)

Today's inspiration challenge was to find inspiration in the work of Geninne D. Zlatkis.  What a talented woman!  This was my inspiration piece .  I used the Little Shapes set to create the background squares and then stamped the images from Good Neighbors.  I attached a piece of linen thread to the center square by piercing 2 holes and running the thread through.  I hope you like it! :)

stamps:  Good Neighbors (Sale-A-Bration set), Tiny Tags, Little Shapes (retired)
card stock:  Whisper White
ink:  basic black, pumpkin pie, summer sun, creamy caramel, ruby red, cameo coral, so saffron, old olive, garden green, really rust, not quite navy
accessories: linen thread, tiny tag punch

Negative/Positive

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Appreciate The Struggle

I sure had a hard time in the craft room today.  Nothing was coming easily and nothing looked right.  But I kept going...I know there is something to take away from today's struggle - that I need to appreciate it and recognize it is part of the creative process and that I will get through it and have another easy time soon!  Sometimes you just need to appreciate the struggle and recognize it is only temporary.  As my mother has told me, "This too shall pass."

Today's challenge on SCS was to be inspired by the presidents.  Anything from cherry trees to dollars :)  This card was brought about by the thought of change and the idea that each new president believes that they will make a difference - that change will come.  I thought that using the negative/positive image would reflect this theme of change.  I hope you like it!  The flowers were just circle punched pieces of whisper white card stock that I snipped and then "fluffed!"  So easy to make and they add quite a bit of dimension to a card.

So Sweet!

I woke up this morning to a message from my friend, fellow blogger and amazing crafter, Judi!  She had passed along a blog award to me (you can see the cupcake in the left-hand column)!!!!  This is my first blog award ever!  Thank you Judi!!!!!  You can stop by Judi's blog HERE.  I am to list 10 of my favorite things and then share this award with 2 other people.  Here are my favorite things...it's hard to just list 10!

1.  Sharing my life with Michael
2.  Sharing my life with my amazing four-legged family members!
3.  Waking up to such sweet surprises as this morning
4.  Being given the gift of a new day
5.  Have such precious and amazing friends
6.  The opportunity and gift of creativity
7.  Balsamic vinegar from O&C...along with other favorite foods
8.  Watching the birds, squirrels and fox in the backyard
9.  The beauty of nature
10.  The sound of silence

I'll be back later today to let you know who I'm passing the award on to!  Hope you have a sweet day!

Stenciling With Folk Flowers

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Have Fun With Something New!

I had my Folk Flowers stencils still in their packaging - it's been over a month!  So today I decided to open them up for today's SCS challenge - to use an odd number of things.  It was a lot of fun trying something new :)  What "something new" did you try today????

I used my daubers to sponge the stencil with both pretty in pink and soft suede ink.  I spritzed some soft suede with the spritzer tool and then sponged the edge of the very vanilla card stock with soft suede.  I sponged my 1 (odd number) pretty in pink corduroy button with a little soft suede too (seems like nothing is safe from sponging today!).  I adhered the 3 (odd number) pearls.  Finally I stamped my vintage label frame - I actually inked it up with pretty in pink and then used my soft suede sponge dauber to dab a little soft suede so that I would get a variegated look.  I punched it out with the large oval punch and yes, you guessed it, sponged the edges!  Hope you like it!

Rub-Ons and Accessories - A Quick Card!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Sometimes Your Energy Will Find You!

I had an exhausting day yesterday.  I woke up early in a hotel and then proceeded to do 5 iterations of a 90-minute training program, then went to the airport, boarded a plane and flew home.  I'm tired just recounting the day!  Today I had planned to go to the gym and I must admit it was on my "last places I want to go today" list when I woke up!  However, I got in the car and drove myself there and somehow, once I started working out, my energy found me.  I have no idea where that energy came from, but I left the gym after an hour and I felt great (although I seem to be ready to fall asleep now and it's the middle of the afternoon)!  Sometimes you just never know when your energy will find you!

Today's card came together quickly - and no ink or stamping!  I pulled out the rub-ons, the designer paper, the hodgepodge hardware and the pretties kit!  I was the accessory queen :)  Hope you like it!

Companion

Today's Lesson From Far Away From The Craft Room:  Sometimes It Is Nice To Have A Companion

I left Denver and flew to San Diego today for work.  I have to admit it was nice to leave the snow and come to the palm trees :)  So far though, the highlight of my trip was my dining companion this afternoon :)  I stopped at a small Greek cafe to grab some lunch.  The weather was so nice out that I decided to sit outside and this little guy decided that I looked lonely :)  He made himself my dining companion and I have to say we really connected :)  Sometimes it's just nice to have a companion!  It was also great to watch how many people stopped to laugh and smile at the odd couple we were :)  Looking forward to being back in the craft room on Wednesday morning!  Happy creating until then!

Wow!!! I'm So Excited!!!!

I was just about to go to bed and checked my email and WOW!!!!  I just found out that I was one of the winners of the challenge on Shelli's blog!!!  Yippppeeeeeeee!!!!!!  You can check out all the contest winners here!  What amazing news to end my wonderful day!!!!!!  Thank you!!!! :)

Tri-Shutter Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Try A New Technique!

This weekend I've done a bit of exploring.  On Friday night I tried a new chocolate cake technique - baking a mug of chocolate cake in the microwave!  It was crazy and yummy :)  (Here's the link if you want to give it a try)!  I also decided to try a new technique in the craft room: the Tri-Shutter card...here's the result!  This card was a ton of fun to create and really not that complicated at all.  I found the directions at SCS, got out my supplies and went to town!  What do you think?  Here is a picture of the card when it is closed...

I think I need to head back into the craft room to make a second one!  I may even have to put together a video so you can see how easy this card is to make!  Is there a new technique you have tried that you'd like to share?  Please leave me a note in the comments - I'd love to hear about it!

stamps:  Cheep Talk, Happy Everything, Whimsical Words
card stock:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Welcome Neighbor dsp
ink:  Dusty Durango, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
accessories: xacto blade, scallop circle punch, 1 1/2", 1 1/4", 1", 1/2" circle punches, dazzling diamonds

Erte - Paper Cutting

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Sometimes The Greatest Gift The Craft Room Offers Is A Little Peace And Quiet

We had a friend visiting us in the house this week.  We really enjoyed sharing time together and, at the same time, I could tell that I was missing time of quiet and solitude.  When I walked into the craft room today to create, I was struck by the surprising gift of peace and quiet this special room offered!  I always think of the craft room as a place to explore the gift of creativity.  Today I am grateful for the other gifts it brings :)

Today's card was inspired by Erte - this particular piece of art.  I used an xacto blade to cut out the black card stock in the shape of a butterfly.  (I used a butterfly from the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die as a template for the outline and drew it on the back side of the card stock and then cut around it with the xacto knife).  I stamped a whisper white piece of paper with the bella toile background stamp and colored the image with my aqua painter and various ink colors.  The tiny butterflies on the greeting are from the Beautiful Wings embosslit.  Hope you like it!

stamps:  Of The Earth (hostess), Bella Toile
card stock:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Green Galore
ink:  Orchid Opulence, Green Galore, Brilliant Blue, Only Orange, Going Gray
accessories: xacto blade, Big Shot, Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die, Beautiful Wings embosslit

Video: Colorful Corduroy Button Flower

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Inspiring Others Towards Happiness Brings You Happiness!

These words were written on the tab of my tea bag this afternoon and they seemed just perfect to me!  Yesterday I had the honor of teaching stamping at a Boys & Girls Club and it was amazing to watch how happy the kids were with their new-found talent!  It really did make me happy!  Who can you inspire toward happiness today?  (I hope today's video inspires you to create and, as a result, brings you loads of happiness!  Let me know if you have any questions!).

I'll Be Back Friday - Boys & Girls Club Was Calling!

Hi!  I just wanted to let you know I haven't disappeared!  I will be back tomorrow with a new post - I've missed blogging!  Where was I?  I had my head down in the craft room for the past few days preparing for tonight - I went with a friend to volunteer at a local Boys & Girls Club and we taught the kids how to stamp (they made Valentine's cards)!  It was an amazing experience!!!!!  To watch their creativity go wild with those punches, stamps, paper, crimper...it was fabulous!  I highly recommend sharing your love of stamping with someone who may never have stamped before - it is incredibly rewarding!  Hope you have a great night!  Looking forward to being back in the craft room and back here tomorrow!