June 29, 2010

My Time Made Easy Peek!

handmade projects

I HAVE OVERCOME!  Yes, it took a while (and a lot of nerve) but our 'critters' seem to be gone from the basement, and I have been able to return to my beloved "Stampland" :).


I did bring some things up from the basement and gave myself a sort of "limited supply challenge", but I'll share those things with you another time.

For today, we've got a peek at some of the new goodies coming your way from My Time Made Easy!


Have you heard of Piggy Paint?  It's a fabulous company, that makes non toxic, all natural nail polish.  It certainly isn't inexpensive, but -- let me tell you a secret...if you are on Facebook, and you "Like" their page, they're always running coupon codes, making the price much more tolerable.


Sorry - moving on... I got some Piggy Paint for my girls - and some for my niece for her birthday that just passed. I obviously needed to package it up in a cute fashion...and Lauren came to my rescue...

Let me introduce you to... The Flapper.

This handy box is a GREAT size for all SORTS of items, and is SUPER easy to assemble, yet gives a real neat and clean presentation, don't you think??

Here's a close up of the front 'flap', if you will...I used a floral image from the new set, Killer Curves on it.

Here is a view of the top -- it's hard to see, but I stamped that same floral image on the yellow circle using versamark, and then stamped my sentiment off center in orange.  The orange frame around the white layer is also from the Killer Curves set.  This will be a great one to add to your stash some basic elements that can be used in a variety of ways!

The patterned paper is a lattice pattern, one of the papers that will be available on July 1.  Since it was not exactly the color I needed for my project, I tweaked it a little bit in Photoshop until I had what I needed.  That's the GREAT thing about digi paper, plus, you NEVER run out of your favorite patterns, lol.

I have one last photo to share with you -- here is the box open, so you can see the contents.  I've put a small nail clipper, toe separator, file, and the 3 bottles of polish, and still plenty of room.  Perhaps I'll add a little chocolate too :).

Thanks so much for stopping by -- if you didn't come here from Lauren's blog, be sure to head there, as well as Katie, Silke, Dawn and Geny, they all have some more peeks at the new goodies for you too!!

Have a great day!!

June 8, 2010

Close Encounters of the Rodent Kind....

Good Morning --


I'm here to point you all in the direction of the rest of the My Time Made Easy Design Team today.


You see, over the weekend, I had some excitement.


My stamping area is in my basement -- which is unfinished, so yeah, cold in winter, warm in summer, all that good stuff.  Well, with that, also comes some... ahem... unwelcome "friends" on occasion.


I was downstairs in what I affectionately call "stampland" working on some vinyl lettering for my new mailbox (which looks GREAT, BTW) and I happened to notice something moving, out of the corner of my eye.  So I turned and looked...and there was a BIG MOUSE scurrying down the WALL.  ACKKKK!  I screamed like a little girl and ran upstairs and out the front door to my husband in the front yard, who thinks this is all very amusing.


I did *NOT* find it amusing.  Nope.  I know that these creatures come and live in my home on occasion, but they have NEVER been bold enough to show themselves  while I was DOWN THERE -- soooo...I'm a bit freaked out, and will admit...SCARED to go in the basement.  Talk about stifling one's creativity...I can't even think about ANYTHING other than rodents while down there.... *shudder*.


SOOOO, needless today, I have not really been down there, unless I HAVE to, and was unable to complete my project for today's group post.  I'm hoping my displacement from Stampland is short lived, as we are working on evicting my uninvited guests...and as soon as I can, I'll get my last project finished and for you all to see soon!


In the meantime -- be sure to stop by the rest of the team's blogs to see what they've got in store for you....a real treat, no doubt!








Thanks for stopping by today -- I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops when I can get back to my favorite crafty spot :).

June 6, 2010

Cocktails, My Time Made Easy Style...

I hope you all have been enjoying all of the AMAZING goodies that everyone has been cooking up for the June My Time Made Easy Release :).

Lauren has done it again this month.  The new Well Preserved set is SO versatile, and tons of fun.  Fruit is timeless - lol.  What are NOT timeless, are "Hot Drinks".  Not temperature hot, but trendy hot.  Let me show you how I used the Jam Packed Template along with the Well Preserved digi and regular sets to make some "Hot Drinks" into a gift for a good friend.


A friend of mine has been feeling awful for a while, and recently found out she has Lyme's Disease.  She was definitely relieved to know she wasn't going crazy, as she had a doc or two tell her that it must 'just be stress'...nice right?  ugh.  Anyway - I joked that she should celebrate with some cocktails (as long as it didn't interfere with her medication, lol).  So that explains the sentiment on the outside of my packaging, for those who were wondering...


I started out making my label with the Well Preserved digital images.  The label and the cherries were colored on my computer, and then I placed the word "Cherry" image and inserted my own "Cosmopolitans" to follow for customization.


I printed the label on brochure paper, and ran it through my xyron machine to adhere it to the jar.  I also used the cherries for the recipe I printed and put on the inside of the lid of the template (I used re-positionable adhesive, so she can take it out of the box to keep), as seen here:


Now, the top of the jar - I picked up some of those adorable medallion tags by Martha Stewart from Michaels the other day, and wouldn't you know, the circle label image from Well Preserved fits perfectly.  I used my copic airbrush system to color the outer part of the medallion red...I'm still new at it, but I think it came out alright :).  
You'll see there's a bit of green in the background, I just cut a green circle and fit it under the rim, and adhered the medallion on to the green CS with a dimensional, so it's like a sandwich.  


Now, for the outside of the template...the picture at the top of the post you can see the border around the lid of the box.  I stamped the cherries in green ink, and colored them in with my Copics.  I trimmed the strip of cherries with a piece of red cardstock that was punched on the edges using an SU! border punch, and the closure is finished off with some stacked buttons tied with twine.


The top of the lid uses both of the die cut elements included in the Killer Curves Cut files, resized to stack on the lid.  One of the Killer Curves Frames is framing the circle label and cherries.  Each layer is on dimensionals to give it a little more presence.  And there you have it -- a great way to share cocktails as a gift!


Oh - and for those of you who would like a close-up of the recipe, here's a closer look:


If you didn't come here from Lauren's blog, be sure to stop by there, and Catherine's as well!  They BOTH have some amazing goodies to share today!!



Supplies:
Stamps: Well Preserved (digital AND photopolymer), Killer Curves, So Sentimental, Fanciful Flourishes
Ink: New Leaf, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: One Sheet Wonder, Candied Apple, Meadow (Couture Cardstock), Brouchure Paper (Staples)
Accessories: Killer Curves die cuts, Martha Stewart medallion tags, dimensionals, buttons, red pearls

June 1, 2010

It's My Time Made Easy RELEASE day!!!

It's June 1st.  And with the first of the month comes a new release from My Time Made Easy!  Lauren has got some FABULOUS things releasing this month.  Some will be great to use for teacher gifts (if you're like me, and your kids finish up the end of June) or thinking ahead to the (don't throw anything at me) holiday season, lol.

Lauren has given detailed descriptions of everything releasing over on her blog, so I won't re-hash all of that, just know that there is OODLES and OODLES of goodness to check out on the "New Products" tab in the store!

Today the DT has lots of eye candy for you with cards...mine is actually using this weeks sketch from the weekly SCS challenge.  I was needing some inspiration earlier this week, and it got me going.


I ADORE this fruity stripe paper that Sara made, this one TOTALLY caught my eye from the moment I saw it, it's included in the Preserve It - Oranges and Strawberries collection.  And c'mon, does it get much cuter than that jelly jar from Well Preserved?  The plaid is a separate image in the stamp set, so you can leave it blank, or make the plaid any color you want.

I masked the strawberry on the jar to make a second one...solely because I had colored my image so nicely, stamped the sentiment, and when I stamped the strawberry, I stamped it too low...DRAT!  So, what to do?? MASK IT and add another one to fill the space! lol.  the lattice pattern on the bottom of the focal image is from Puckered up Patterns, which released last month.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the team's blogs and check out what they've whipped up for you!!

Dawn Easton
Geny Cassady
Katie Cotton
Lauren Meader
Lesa Rapp
Pam Imholz
Silke Ledlow
Stephanie Kraft

Thanks for stopping by today!