Follow the Yellow Brick Road! April 1, 2007

I changed: please see my new blog at apigonfire.blogspot.com!

I can’t help it…  plus, the new photo editing software is to die for!  🙂

~Kendra

This is not what I’m supposed to be doing! :) March 29, 2007

I am supposed to be writing lesson plans because I go back to school on April 2nd.  And yet, I’m uploading to my blog. 

I went on a stamping spree last night.  I just got Dotted Trees by Hero Arts and wanted to play!  I had fun!  I posted one to SCS, but the other two that I really like, I’ll post here!

I was inspired for my Cherry Blossom tree by trudee’s card.  She might have pushed me over the edge to by the Hero Arts trees too.  🙂 

By the way – do you guys want me to give a description of how I made it?  I don’t do it, but I list the supplies when I upload the picture, although I don’t know where one goes to view them!  LOL

I would like to add, don’t you just love that kite string?!?  I’ve had it in my ribbon drawer for a bazillion years and I’m finally finding inspiration to use it.

My roommate was shocked by the use of four brads.  But, I had three and they were off, so I had to put the fourth one on there.

I am also a distressing maniac.  Someone please take my cutter kit away.  (But don’t because I love it!)

The PaperTrey sentiments have been awesome for me because I tend not to put sentiments on my cards.  Having them handy and such a variety really has helped me break this “non-sentiment” habit!

 And my other card:  Again inspired by Trudee’s card, with her use of the scallop punch.   Several people had been using Kraft paper on SCS and I wanted to pull mine out!  I really kind of adore the way this card came out.  (Okay, I’ll admit that I like the way all of them came out!  LOL

Thanks for dropping by!  I have other various cards I’ve made, plus if I’m a good girl and do my lesson plans, I can stamp this weekend!  Cross your fingers! 🙂

Peace out!

~Kendra

I do exist, really! March 28, 2007

I didn’t fall off the face of the planet, I promise.  But, I would like to ask, where in the heck does time go?  It felt like the beginning of March just yesterday.  I’m trying to get myself back into my schedule, but it’s not working very well.  I did only have a 15 minute nap today.  I am also trying to get some school stuff done as well.  Again, not going very well.  Well, it’s going, just very, very slowly!  🙂  Emailing and writing a letter counts as something, right?

Tomorrow is my birthday!  🙂  I turn the big 2-4!  Exciting stuff, I tell you.  My mom and step-dad are taking me for sushi tomorrow.  That is, after I stamp all day tomorrow!  That’s my present to myself.  (Among other things!  LOL)

Here is a card I made last week.

This is my second card with the Butterfly Kisses set from PaperTrey:  (the first I’m going to send in to see if I can become the guest artist – (I wish!) )

I randomly positioned the circles on my acrylic block and stamped them on my card.  I stamped the blocked butterfly image off once before I stamped it on the paper.  Then I stamped the circled butterfly image.  I wanted a touch of black and ended up stamping the little butterfly outline along the edge.   I wish I hadn’t, but oh well.

I am in a distressing edges and direct-to-paper techniques recently.  It’s a simple look, but I love it.

On another front, I’ve decided to start writing.  I bought a bunch of books the other day… (Why is it that B&N decides to stock EVERY book possible on a topic and I feel the need to buy them all?) mostly things that you can use to start writing.  I have no idea what I’m going to write about, but perhaps if I start writing maybe inspiration will hit!  Of course, I bought them Sunday and still haven’t written anything.  🙂  Setting up a “daily time” would probably work, but I’m off schedule.    (My poor children are going to be so weirded out by “schedules” – LOL!)  Do you suppose I should wake up earlier?  I hate waking up early!

Anyways… I probably should work for a little while so I can have fun on my birthday!  Sorry I haven’t posted in a while.  I promise I will be better!

Thanks for dropping by!

a quickie March 21, 2007

No stamping today!  I am pooped!  It was cold and icky outside today.  😦 Definately not nice track break weather!  LOL  However, I did reorganize all of my cds today.  Maybe I’m the only nerd out there, but it definately made me happy.  I had a stack from high school that I bought for one song just because it was cool, that I never listen to anymore.  I put the one or two cool songs on to my itunes and then:  I’m trading them away.  Someone on SCS gave us this site: PoshPoints.  Way too stinkin’ cool!  I won’t have to have an annoying stack of cds!  They have crafty stuff and cell phones and just stuff.  I thought it was fun anyways.

I didn’t take any pictures of the cards I made last night.  But, I will share something tomorrow!  (For all 3 of you who visit me! 🙂 )

Peace Out!

~Kendra

P.S. The top 11 really stepped up tonight on American Idol didn’t they?  I wonder who will get knocked off!

A card, a random question, and a quote March 19, 2007

So, I went in to the school to finish a few things – an hour of “work” means that I get to play the rest of the day, right? 🙂

Anyways – I have another house mouse swap coming up and I decided to work on it. I love this little guy and thought baby cards are always nice to have around. I do have to admit that I get most of my layouts from somewhere else. I mean, there are only so many *unique* designs, right? I mean, they are “my designs” but just the same layout. I’m okay with it.. I mean why else would they publish “Joy of Cardmaking”? (I guess I would love to know how others come up with *unique* design layouts.) I also discovered that the texture wheel going both ways looks freakin’ awesome! I loved those jumbo wheels in the new SU! catty, but bad little me doesn’t use them! I will now, because of this newly discovered “background.” I also like them because the backgrounds only fit A2 card size… and I make a mess of trying to line it up again without overlapping.

I have a few others that I made last night. I posted some to SCS, but of course regretted it. I love sharing, really I do, but by golly I *DO* want recognition because I make darn cool stuff (Yes, I love my cards!)! So, I’ll share here and do some other stuff.

Random question… for those of you who sell cards. How do you stockpile for craft shows and stuff? Do you make multiple copies of cards? (I totally dislike doing that! Unless for a swap, like a 5+1.) I wonder if you said this was a *unique* design if you could charge more? Oh, and how the heck do you store them all? Maybe I should invest in a couple of more SU! card organizers.

That’s all for today… I’m debating on posting the others or sending them away to a big, bad (okay, not bad – but it does fit!) “Fox Books” (You’ve Got Mail! reference) – cardmaking magazines! 🙂

Oh, I did find a great book that I had stashed away – a rubber stamping quote: “A day without rubberstamping is a day without sunshine!”

~Kendra

Birthday’s Galore! March 17, 2007

I never realized that I needed so many birthday cards!  I made this first card

for Ellen, the owner of the beauty shop where my family goes.  This card looks just like her!  Don’t you love when your cards are *just right* for the people you are giving them to?  I’m so excited to give it to her.

The second card I made was inspired by a color combo that I saw in PaperCrafts.  I kept making a purple polka dots, but they just weren’t working.  So, this is what I came up with.  My grandma’s birthday is the 29th, so I’ve decided to give this one to her!  Now, I need to make a card for my mom to give her! 

I did another card too, but I’m sending it out as a RAK!  🙂  See, I’m doing well with my experiment, for the exception of my LSC card.  But, you didn’t want to see that one anyways… It was *unique* to say the least!  LOL!

I’m off to make more cards – last night I drank a too few many Coca-Cola’s and stayed up until 3 in the morning.  Hey, I made some cards though, right?  Thinking about going and getting me one to charge up my creativity again!

Thanks for coming ladies!  I appreciate it!  (I love to write/talk, and I want to share my beautimous cards with you too – Yes, I love my cards! – so this is a perfect combo!)

Peace Out and have a great day!  (Decision of the day?  Go outside where it’s sunny or stamp?  Or just open the door to my apartment and let the outside in so I can do both?  I like the latter better, but I probably should take a shower first!)

finally!!

So I couldn’t stamp because I had some school stuff to get done.  Being on track break is good, but then I feel guilty because I’m not thinking about school 24/7.  Well… I’m always thinking about school actually.  I even dreamed about the kids the other night.  I was in their school bus, riding home with them.  But then I had to drive the bus.  I know, I know – I should think about getting some better dreams.  🙂

So my card.  I posted my Limited Scrap Challenge card to splitcoast.  Golly that card was a pain in my hiney.  I kept adding stuff and adding black ink and more and more.  I like it, but I’m not in love with it.  I totally understand that challenges are supposed to stretch you, but more often than not, my challenge cards are not that good.  And I have a confession…. at shoebox swaps, I totally can’t make my cards look like the originals.  I’m like stamping impaired or something.  When I’m creating something totally Kendra original, I become one with the card.  It’s like an experience.  It’s my baby.  (No wonder I love my cards!  Digression – JanTink always says “Yes, I love myself!  Can I steal that Jan?!?  Because I love my stamping creations!  🙂 ) But, remaking cards and challenges…. I just don’t do so well.  It kills me.

Anyways, so I stamped that one.  And then I did this baby!  (Yes, I love my cards!) 

I bought these Autumn Leaves acrylics back in November.  I had eyed this guy for a while online, and then when he was at my LSS, I decided that it was fate.  But, I am guilty of neglecting him.  Bad stamper Kendra, bad!  I wanted to use the spaceship.  And this simple thing is what came about.  I’m a big fan of simplicity.  I am not a complicated layout, mucho embellishment girl.  This card is totally my style.  I bought those snap stamps a while back too.  They are not that easy to use.  I even goobered my card the first time, but had used my handy dandy super sticky mono multi that I couldn’t get that puppy off there.  Fortunately I was able to save the baby and you can’t even tell that I made a boo-boo!  LOVE that!  (My mom says that hand-stamped cards are best when they aren’t perfect.  I love my momma for that!)

I’m off to stamp a birthday card for the owner of the hair salon my family goes to.  I’m patiently (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration) waiting several orders: some hero arts stamps, Basic Grey 6×6 stacks of their new lines, stuff from StarLitStudio, and my new PaperTrey stamps.  Notice I said stamps!  Yes, I ordered both the words and the new butterfly set.  I’m a bad bad girl!  But, I’m so stinkin’ excited!  🙂  I’m also contemplating an order from Cornish Heritage Farms.  Dag nab it, I opened my yahoo newsletter and *just* had to go and look.  I *need* some colorbox chalk inks for my new PaperTrey stamps, don’t I?  And the polka dot backgrounders are just screaming my name.  We all know that I’m ordering, don’t we?!?  I’ll wait.  Oh… what are your thoughts on a Bind-It-All coming to my house?  Do you think I would actually use it?  Hmm.  So many crafting supplies, so little time!  LOL

(And I said that I wasn’t going to spend any more money on crafting stuff for a month!)  Ouy.  Will the money police come get me?

Okay – I’m done.

Peace out!

~Kendra

Hello World! March 15, 2007

Okay, so I had a blog and I wasn’t a good blogger.  But, I thought that I would start a new one because I am doing an experiment on myself.  I will explain the experiment later.  But, for now, I will  continue my ramblings.  That and play.

God bless track break.  Track break is “summer break” for year-round schools.  We have 2 different track breaks during our school year, plus the month/month and half off between last year and next year.  So, I have track break until April 2nd.  And I AM not being productive!  It is so wonderful!  I am sitting at home (well, my mom’s house since my step-dad is gone this week) watching marathons on tv and surfing the net and buying stamps and NOT doing my school work.  By the way, it doesn’t matter what marathon it is, I will watch anything marathon!  I know, I’m a bum!

I have a dilema however, I want to go home and stamp, but how do you tell your mother that?  I know, not easy.  But, I don’t have clothes for Thursday, so maybe I can escape tomorrow night.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my momma, it’s just that I love my stamps too!  I’m going through card-making withdrawl.

Speaking of which, my experiment.  I’ve decided to post my creations here to my blog and retreat from SCS.  While I love SCS, I just don’t know what to do anymore.  I feel really good about my creations.  But, like Joan B said, I am worrying too much about what other people think.  I find myself checking comments constantly after I post.  And I can never figure out why I’ll have so many views or I’m favorited so much, but lack comments.  And seriously, I love stamping and I love my stuff.  I’m not a sophisticated stamper, I don’t do fancy techniques, I don’t do elaborate card layouts, but I love my style and my creations.  And I’m danged proud of them too!  So, I’m at a loss.  I know that I’m not a stamping goddess, nor that I will ever make it to dirty girl status, but I need to make sure that I am happy with what I create.  Because, that for me, is why I create.  I love to share my stuff, but maybe I can find new ways to share and feel good without it causing me to “check” my status.  You know, like blogging my cards, or RAKing them, or whatever.  🙂  So, we will see how my experiment goes.  Going to a different blog site will hopefully make it easier for me to post pictures of my cards.  And I promise to be a good blogger!

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you back!

~Kendra