Stamp with us Challenge

I have not done a challenge for a while and when I saw the Stamp With Us challenge this week I was inspired to make another tri shutter card. Hope you like the card.

Supplies:

Paper: Kraft Card stock, SU Whisper White, SU Holiday Treasures DS

Ink: Ruby Red. Old Olive

Tools: Coluzzles cutter

Keeping with the Christmas theme

I was so excited when I got my cuttle bug that I had to use the free with purchase embossing folder. It is soooo cool.

Never too early to start on Christmas

I have fallen sadly behind on doing a few Christmas cards a month so I whipped out a few of these cute 3x3 cards. I love Taylored Expression stamps!

Carry on Cosmo

I saw this card on a bit of this. a bit of that and thought it was so cute. It also went with my mission of using up some of my huge amount of patterned paper. I did not have any eyelets so I used brads instead and think it is way too cute!

Cosmo Cricket!

So I know I have been gone for a super dupper long time I have just been busy with life it happens. Today's card evolved from my desire to use up some of the Cosmo Cricket paper I had gotten. I love the early bird collection but I got two of each sheet as I was worried what I would do if I wanted to use the pattens on each side. Needless to say I have had plenty of early bird paper to play with. I have done a banner for our mantle piece, a couple of scrapbook pages, and 4 cards I can think of off the top of my head. I saw this cute card on Yours Truly you can find the template for this card here

Thinking Inking

Jennifer McGuire is doing a great class over at Two Peas on stamping and the first two video's have been on using Tim Holtz distress inks. I started to get a few of these inks based on some projects that Jennifer has done in the past and her new videos have been so informative and I am excited with all the possibilities. Make sure you jump over to to Two Peas to learn more about her class Thinking Inking, it is a nine week class with three video tutorials a week so 27 in all. I can't wait to see her other projects.

So here is a project I did using some of the techniques she showed in her first video hope you like!

Keep Calm and Carry On

So London is in the midst of a 48 hour Tube strike which ends tonight at 6.58pm (not making it up 6.58 not 6.57 or 7.00 exactly). Needless to say when you take away the transport that 3 million people use everyday there is some chaos.

Why are they striking? What I have been able to understand after some reading is that basically in an economic down turn the union is not happy with a two percent over inflation pay rise on an already decent wage. They also want a guarantee that there will be no compulsory redundancies and at the last minute just to make things interesting they insisted that two union member who were in the process of employment tribunals for serious misconduct be reinstated. One was fired for serious breach of health and safety issues such as opening the doors on the wrong side at a busy tube station and for failing to complete routine mandatory safety checks. The other employee’s case can not be discussed in public.

So what does Yank think? I have struggled a lot with this topic please understand I do not believe that unions are a bad thing or that strikes even though they disrupt day to day running are wrong. I feel however that in the case of this particular strike that the union is being unreasonable.

The average Tube driver make £40,000 a year, works a 35 hour work week, can not work within 12 hours of finishing a previous shift, is paid double time on bank holidays, has Christmas, Boxing day and New Years day off, and 6 weeks of annual leave.

The average salary in England is £18,000 based on a 40-48 hour work week, very few professions impose a 12 hour between shift restriction. By law you only have to pay 1.5 time on bank holidays and the average annual leave for England is 4 weeks.

I understand that there was a time when many workers were taken advantage of and working conditions were poor, in some professions this is still true and the needs for unions is strong to protect workers. I have in the past supported the idea of strike in cases such as teachers who in many instances earn little more than minimum wage, have in recent years been strip of authority to discipline in most cases, and who every year are forces to take on larger and large class sizes even though studies have shown this is at the detriment of the student.

One could argue that it is really easy for me to support a teacher’s strike when it has little impact on my day to day life. I do not have children, I don’t have to miss work to be with them when the schools close or scramble to make other arrangements for the hours that would be covered while they where in school. When I take a hard look at myself I can concede that the fact it has added on about 2 hours to my already 3 hour round trip commute has certainly made me grumpier and more sleep deprived but honestly not biased against the strike.

3 million people in England are out of work right now, of those who have a job a large number of them have had their salaries frozen or even decreased or asked to work fewer hours or days a week. I don’t know that now is the best time to be walking out on your job holding out for an above inflation pay rise and a guarantee of no mandatory redundancies. There is little public support behind this strike and of those I have spoken with at work, family members and friends I have yet to find anyone who feels this strike is justifiable. For me it was little more than a guarantee that I got my minimum of 5 miles of walking in a day as I walked the 3.15 miles back to my train station last night and will make the same journey tonight. I have been lucky in the mornings be in the right place at the right time to catch a bus all the way to work from my train station this morning and half way to work yesterday morning leaving only 1.5 miles to walk. Due to planning and an alarm clock set for 4.30 am each morning I have actually made it to work a few minutes early. My dorkiness for learning multiple bus routes and walking routes around London has insured that I was able make quick decisions when I saw buses that had room on them, while most people where trying to figure out if the bus that was approaching would get them where they wanted to go. There was definitely a Keep Calm and Carry On attitude by most Londoners as they took to the street with there printed Google maps and copies of London A-Z.

Tomorrow I will only be too glad to get on the tube and make the journey from my train station to work in 15 mins instead of an hour but maybe one day I can tell my grand kids I survived the great tube strike of 2009.

No work today!

I needed to go to the doctor today and because of my appointment time and travel time to London it was easier just to take a holiday day. As I was not sure I would be able to take a holiday day until yesterday I was left with the afternoon off after my doctors appointment. So with lack of much else to be doing I have been doing some crafting. I am in the process of covering an AC 12x12 album little irritated at the moment as the person producing the album was not very precise with the binding part so it is not even which means I am having to add little bits onto the sides to make it look right. Oh well there is my rant for the day.




On to more fun things, this is one of my favorite photo's of kitty the look on his face makes me crack up every time I look at it!

Happpy Fathers Day

Stamp with us had a wonderful colour inspiration and as I needed some inspiration to make a Fathers day card it was perfect timing. I seem to have a thing with sewing on cards and scrapbook pages right not and since I had a threaded needle I thought I would do some stitching on this card as well. It was nice to make a card again as I have been so busy with scrapbook pages lately!

Supplies:

Paper:Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Summer Picnic DS paper

Ink: Ballet Blue

Punch: SU Scallop

Other: Red Embroidery Thread

Wisley Gardens

So let it be said I never Use K&Co paper. I find their paper beautiful but I also find it very busy, I like plain simple graphic stuff. But since I kind of crafted this page in reverse order I found I needed some 12x12 background paper and the green suited the Que Sera Sera paper very well. I got the idea for this page from the lovely Carol who runs the monthly crop I attend. She had done a similar layout except her squares were about 1inch by 1inch I did not have the patience to work with that many square so I did mine larger. I love the fact that now I can display all of the 12million photos I took when I visited Wisley Gardens last month!

No Stabilizers

So my DH has this annoying habit of looking at a layout and saying "You spelled ( insert any word here) wrong." I fell for this many a times as my spelling skills leave something to be desired. Now I spell check all the titles for layout and any journaling I am doing. When I am at crops I have someone check before I put a layout together. Last night was no exception I had my last page out on the craft table and my husband walked by stopped to have a look and said "You spelled stabilizers wrong" with out looking up I calmly replied "nice try I spell checked it before I laid it out" guess he won't get tired of trying.

Back again

I think I am just going to have to realize I go through spurts of creativity. I seem to blog non stop for a while and then I don't create for a couple of weeks, then I do 7 layouts in two days. Feast or Famine here at Casa de la Yank. So anyways here is one of the layouts I did yesterday, I do promise I use paper other than Bloom and Grow from My Minds Eyes, it just happens that the layout I have photo's for I used Bloom and Grow.

Sorry about the crap picture, who ever decided it was best to take pictures in natural light never lived in England. It seems to be forever clouded over which means I have to use the flash and I get glare of the photo's. You will be proud to learn that I did not use a single bit of Bloom and Grow paper in the other 6 layouts I did, just to prove I can survive with out it and the world will not stop rotating and all that.

Hannah over at Sparkly Pink Star nominated me for the Lemonade Stand Award, thanks Hannah. Here is the low down:

The Lemonade Stand Award is for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude.
To pick up the Lemonade Stand Award:
- Comment on this blog.
- Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog.
- Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude.
- Link to your nominees within your blog post.
- Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.
- Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.
I would like to nominate the following bloggers for this award:

Linda

Jo

Kitty

Kelly

Karen

I just looked at the list and you would think I only like people who's names start with J K or L. I promise it just happened to be the first 5 favorite blogs I thought of!

Oops I forgot

Sorry I forgot that I had not posted the pictures of the Spring Garland I made for our mantle piece at the crop a few weeks ago.



Seriously loving it but it is time I started to contemplate how I want to decorate for summer. To anyone worried I found my bone folder yesterday while cleaning up some of my craft stuff. It had gotten shoved under some stuff in a bag I had taken to the crop and yet to clean out. Not sure how that happened as I have used it since the crop but all is well that ends well.



I spent over two hours uploading photo's to photo box so that I can order some prints for the next crop, they are cheaper than the 24hr option anywhere around here but time consuming to up load the photos you want. Hopefully easier to order once you have uploaded.

New Stash!

So I have some fun new stash! Some arrived care of my post man from Craft Obsessions yesterday to my husbands dislike as the post man knocked very loudly at 7.15 in the morning while he was still snoozing ha ha. The rest I acquired on a trip to Artbase today.



These are the new Paper Whimsies from Sassafras Lass to go with some of their paper I have, I am doing a cute page of the nieces riding their bikes. So loving the retro feel, my mother is probably asking herself where she went wrong as she swore off all things retro after they bought a house with a master bedroom done in Avocado Green and Gold. The kitchen boasted all Avocado Green appliances as well, I don't think she had ever been happier for the stove to break!
Some new Thickers and some puffy metallic alphas from Making Memories from their Just Chilling collection. I have terrible handwriting so alpha may be an addiction but a practical one for titling scrapbook pages.

The everything shot a break down of what I got:

Tim Holtz Gunge book- I had never been exposed to Grunge board before this and bought the book as I like the shape for a mini album, I am hooked it feels amazing almost like suede. It also has an oddly nice smell to it like suede and new paper.

Making Memories- Girl Just Chilling Puffy Alphas, Clear Journaling Stamp set, and 12x12 Audrey Scallop ledger(the base paper fro my riding bikes layout)

Hero Arts- Four Leaf design block stamp, I was Kristina use this a few weeks ago on a FF video and loved it and wanted to recreate something similar.

My Minds Eye- Bella Bella Bellezo 12x12 "Wild Blossom" paper and Daily Dose 24/7 cards "Roll Call" journaling spot.

Creative Imagination- I got two sheets one I can't find a label with the title it is ledger style again, really into the ledger thing. The other is 12x12 "Journal Meadow"

Sassafras Lass- 12x12 Vintage Yummy "Memories Lane" and Vintage Yummy Paper Whimsies(see above)

1 1/4 square punch

Mod Podge the best glue and sealer in the world I love this stuff!

Think it is about time to ink up my new stamp and make some cards as my poor card making supplies have been under used lately then maybe tomorrow onto some scrapping.

In totally unrelated news a while back our neighbour offered the use of his clothes line if we were so inclined to use it. I knocked on his door this afternoon to ask if the offer still stood and if the line would be free for a couple of hours, it was and now I am ripe with anticipation of sheets that have been dried by the sun and the wind, there really is nothing better!

I have also misplaced my Martha Stewart bone folder I brought back from the US. I think it has slipped under something as I have search all my drawers and boxes and container. Anyone who has one will know this is more than just a bone folder. I guess I need to start moving furniture.

Happy Easter

I think I got a little crazy with buying chocolate and goodies for my nieces' Easter baskets he he. I had to do a lot of delicate STUFFING to make it all fit. I got the the idea from Dawn over at Dawn's Stamping Spot. She did a mini 6x6 basket but I wanted something a little larger. I made four altogether 2 for the nieces and two for DH best friends daughters who are nieces to us for all extents and purposes.

Each ones of the baskets had one of these as well, I think that was what took up the most room.

I got so excited that they made Cadbury mini creme eggs this year, they were so cute I just had to get some, then I remembered I hated creme eggs. Good thing for nieces.

Hope you have all had a good Easter!

So Thankful

Okay it is 8.30 on Sunday morning and I am showered dressed my hair is done, the laundry is going and I have fed myself. This is a little freakish, when I woke up and walked past the clock on the stove I didn't have my glasses on and I thought it said 8:58 I was kind of irked but figured if my body needed the sleep so be it. On the way back I noticed the sky was still pink and thought that was strange so I put my glasses on and had another look 6.58 oh that is a little better ha ha ha. I am just waiting for the was to finish and I am off to the next big town over Basildon for some crafting stuff. I need a Happy Easter stamp to do a second card for my nieces I refuse for any of their cards to be remotely similar and I had a set that had a very specific greeting but don't want to use the same stuff for my second nieces card. I think having a husband who is a twin has drummed into me that even if they are both girls and sisters that things need to be different. I am also hoping to find that plasticy grass stuff you put in the bottom of Easter baskets, I am sure they have out lawed it in England for one reason or another, no worries I have a plan B. Last but not least some twine to hang my garland, I am thinking it will give it a nice rustic look if I use brown kitchen or garden twine to put it all together. Will post pics as soon as it is done and hung.



My mother in law rung yesterday to invite me down for a Sunday roast, I am wondering if Mr Y in E put her up to it as the last time I went shopping I bought all veggie stuff and no meat as I kind of have a take it or leave it relationship with meat especially when I am the one having to cook it. I can actually see Mr Y in E calling up his mum and saying "Can you make sure Yank gets some protein in her diet while I am away" ha ha. I am cool with it as it means I don't have to cook for myself and I will not have to do the dishes as MIL has a dish washer. I also get dessert which is a rare treat as I don't buy any of that stuff and only have it when I go out.



So another layout I made up yesterday. It did not turn out anything like I had in mind, I really wanted to use a photo of DH that is my absolute fav but I can't find it on the computer and as it is one from where DH works that was done professionally for some advertising they were doing for the resturant I think DH has it sitting in a folder deeply buried in some of his work stuff on the computer and after searching for 30 min yesterday morning I gave up and decided to use one from five years ago that I absolutely love but had never put on a scrap page. Anyways it just sort of all just laid itself out and then it was done, kind of a weird experience I was doing all the trimming and stuff but all of a sudden I looked down and it was done and I not sure where it came from other than the title was one I saw on another page and like.


I bought the type writer alphas about 4 years ago, I just HAD to have them and since then they have been sitting in my alpha folder just waiting for my perfect project, I was almost sad to use them but then though what am I going to save them for the rest of my life to be buried with them or something HA. Have I mentioned I am addicted to sassafrass lass paper! I love it, did a whole mini album for my MIL for mothers day. Well the washing machine just dinged time to run and change the laundry and be on my way.

Fun times

I had such a great time at my crop today. I arrived an hour and a half after it started because I was not organized enough to get the photo's I wanted developed yesterday so I had to run and get them developed today. Did a couple of Layouts and just about finished the garland for over the mantle piece. Here is one of the layouts I finished.

Sorry the photo of the letters did not show up better I think because the flocked damask is on acetate it makes taking a photo hard. The background lilac paper is also a lot darker than it looks in the photo. This is the only wedding photo I have scrapped in the year and a half since we were married. I think I was just trying to find a style I liked. While it looks nothing like Kitty's paper at Scraps the City and me I mentioned in the last article her layout gave me a lot of ideas I love that about the scrapbook community.

I am now off to finish the garland so I can hang it tomorrow, so glad I left the hooks up after Christmas at least the hardest part already done!

I havn't forgotten my blog

I promise! I have been super busy shamelessly trolling blogs for ideas to CASE for my crop tomorrow and then trolling the Internet to find the same or similar products to use. So here are some of my favorites ideas



I love every page that Kitty does put the wedding layout in particular is great. Given me some great ideas on how to do a page for Mr Y in E and my wedding since it has been over a year and a half and I have not scrapped one photo.



This layout really spoke to me I think it is the title and how much Mr Y in E has been my rock lately So I want to do something similar but with my favorite photo of him.



I am also loving Laura's Here There and Everywhere mini book! So cool



I love this Layout entitled Evolution. I was not organized enough to get all my photos ready but will have to keep that as an idea for a later date.



I am struggling with a bunch of stuff right now and when I say Ali Edwards Family Circle set for TT I knew I wanted to make a gratitude journal and these would be the perfect stamps to use with it.



I also think my mantle needs one of these to celebrate the arrival of spring! How cute will it be with all my Bloom and Grow paper!

I think that should keep me busy tomorrow and beyond!

With Sympathy

I struggle so hard with the concept of making a sympathy card. Most of the reasons you make cards are happy. The birth of a baby, a birthday, a wedding. Even with get well soon cards there are so many fun ways to do them. Sympathy cards are hard for me, I think as most card maker will agree I put my heart into making a card, I have very few generic cards, cards are made for a purpose, with someone in mind at the time when I make them. So when making a sympathy card I struggle knowing the person I am making it for is in pain or struggling with a loss. There is no image that will heal that. With that in mind sympathy cards may be the most important you send, no image will heal the pain but the knowledge that others are there and they care is important. So here it is simple and plain but I hope it brings comfort.

Forgot to mention Jo over at Stampin and Stuff has some fun blog candy going right now if you live in the Europe pop over to leave a comment!

And she scaps too

My mom was a demonstrator for one of the stamp companies not SU but I am not sure which one when I was a teenager and that is where I first learned about paper crafting, it was a very different world then. Fast forward a few years and I had moved away from home and was working as a nanny for a family and wanted a fun way to preserve my pictures of me with the two children. I knew a tiny bit about scrap booking and then one day in the small town that I lived 7 miles outside of someone opened a scrapbook store. I made friends with a woman who I met at a crop there and we traveled all over northern Virginia looking for fun new supplies. When I look back at the pages I did then I laugh all very square pictures in a cascade very formal, not much different then a photo album with some embellishments. Fast forward a few more years and I was forced to move home while I waited on some Visas to come through so I could move back to England and marry DH. I just happened upon a scrap booking store about an hour from where my parents lived and it kept me sane to craft for the six months I was stuck at home.



When it came time to move back to the UK to marry DH I pack up most of my supplies though they were very few and came back and threw together a wedding less than 4 months. I was so busy at the time and we were so poor because I could not work that I did not really have the time to do any scrapping. Then as soon as we were married I was desperate to find a job so that we were not sooooo poor.



When I started to look at doing crafting again I was discourage at the lack of the type of supplies I was use to using and what I could get was not really speaking to me. I could however find card making supplies that fulfilled my need to create. It has been a long hard road looking for supplies like I was use to scrapping with and seeing others creations using supplies I was not use to and liking the end result. I have now found a number of shops online and near me and numerous blogs to give me inspiration. So last night I created the first 12x12 page for my album in over two years. It felt good. So here it is in all it glory nothing special just something to remember a favorite pictures for years to come.


Supplies: Kraft Cardstock, Making Memories, Sassafras Lass, SU Night of Navy, Martha Stewary Glitter Carnelian, SU Scallop Punch, American Crafts Thickers, Versa Mark Ink, SU Heat and Stick Poweder.

Addicted to Bloom and Grow

Hi my name is Yankee and I am addicted to Bloom and Grow paper from My Minds Eye. I love the colours and the patterns and it goes with stuff so well. Yes I made another card using it. I think this might be Bloom and Grow week or even month. When I look at it I get so many ideas! So here is another one, with a paper flower no less. Some times I get stuck in a rut but what a cute rut it is.

My Favorite Things Colour Challenge

Dawn over at My Favorite Things has decided to start doing a color challenge and this weeks when I had a look at the the colours I was really inspired especially with the fact that they worked very well with all the new Bloom and Grow paper from My Minds Eyes. Hope you enjoy.

back from the dead

Sorry it has been so quiet on the blog front lately, as life is I got hit with a bunch of stuff all at once. Some I could take action on and some I just had to let run it course and find the stregth to keep moving, all this and my allergies have decided to flare up with a vengeance unseen for many year. Finding allergy medicine in the UK that worked for me took about a week so I was a pretty unhappy camper. While this was all going on my Bloom & Grow paper from My Minds Eye came. I am sooooooo in love with this paper, I first saw Kristina over at KWerner Designs use it a few weeks ago and i fell in love with it. I got two of all the sheets ( They are front and back) and the die cut sheets that come with it. I have been crafting up a storm with it and thought I would show you the mothers day card I did for my MIL as tomorrow is Mothering Sunday here in the UK. As you can see the Martha Stewart glitter is getting good use. Well the washing machine just let me know it is done and I am off to change what seems like never ending loads of laundry.

Passion for Papertrey!

I was so excited when I found out Kate and Steph were starting a site to promote their love of all things Papertrey here in the UK. The challenges look fun and I decided to throw my hat into the ring. I used the single dot from Papertrey's Polka dot basic and the outline randomly with a few different Versamark colors. It was refreshing to make a card with only one layer of card stock!

Glitter Glorious Glitter

When I went home for Christmas there was one thing on my wish list that was an absolute must. I was NOT getting on the plane to come home to England until I had a good stock of Martha Stewart Glitter. One does not truly realize they are living in a foreign country until a simple thing like finding decent glitter becomes impossible. Last October when I decided that I wanted to decorate some pumpkins with glitter and was unable to find any glitter except gold and red with huge flakes I vowed to never be in this situation again. My mother thought this was hilarious, in the weeks up to my trip home she would ask what I wanted to do while I was at home, at trip to Micheal's was always at the top of the list.

I speak to her on the phone on a weekly basis and rarely does a week go by that she does not ask if I have used any of the 24 new colours of glitter I am now in possession of. Every time I tell her no but just knowing that I have it makes me sleep better at night. So when I realized that this year was an extra special anniversary for my parents and they deserved more than the bog standard card I decided that my very first use of my Martha Stewart glitter could not be better than on my parents anniversary card. I used a sketch by Jen Diercks (she is seriously talented guys check out her blog) who is a guest designer over at I {heart} to stamp where this sketch was posted.

I had pulled out the Polka Dot Punch set from SU! to make some wrapping paper got my parent's gift and that is where the inspiration came for this card. I am not usually into matchy matchy but I just love how this heart stamp looks. I played around with it on some black paper with white Stazon ink and it is stunning as well.

Ha what my stamp table looked like when I was done creating the card. I am not the most organized of crafters.