Playing with my Cuttlebug on Craft Critique

I just realized that my article on embossing with the Cuttlebug is running on Craft Critique today.  Pop on over and check it out!  My goal for this piece was to find as many non-traditional materials that I could emboss using the machine and the embossing folders.  I found several!  Pop on over to www.craftcritique.com and check it out.

Holiday Wish Lists & A Little Poem

Today, my holiday wish list ran on Craft Critique and I received a cute little poem by email.  Now, I'm not sure if it's just coincidence, or if I should believe that somebody somewhere is trying to send me a message.  What do you think?  Either way, I thought it was worth sharing -- so enjoy!

Twas the night before Christmas, I’m glued to the tree. 

I’m wondering what Santa brought just for me.

Could it be cardstock or inkpads or lace?

Or some stamps, I said, with a smile on my face.

And that’s when I heard him……“Hi Santa, ” I said

He replied, “You know….good girls should be in their beds”.

“I know I should Santa,and now I’ve been caught.

But I was just so excited to see what you brought.”

“Well, let’s take a look in this room where you work”.

He shook his head quickly, and left with a jerk.

I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.

“You’ve got enough crap,

I’ll see you next year!” 

Another Review is Up

It's that time again.  Time for another product review on Craft Critique. I took a bit of a different approach this time as I was talking about adhesive dots -- no one manufacturer is highlighted, it's just a general review with a little bit of how-to thrown in.

The Butterfly Project @ Craft Critique

Now I know that many of you are celebrating this weekend, but if you get a moment, pop on over to Craft Critique for the details on the Butterfly Project. The Holocaust Museum of Houston is trying to collect 1.5 million hand-crafted butterflies for an exhibit scheduled for Spring 2012.

The Butterfly Project posts started July 1 with an introduction to the cause and there's been several great tutorials to inspire you posted each day since. The posts will continue through Monday I believe so be sure to check back often.

Now go! Get crafty and create some butterflies and be sure to send them to Craft Critique for inclusion in the box we plan to send to the Museum. The deadline for your deliveries is September 15, so you've got plenty of time!

And oh....the butterflies in the pic above were created by my 7-year-old daughter at school this year. She's excited to send her creations to Craft Critique. Get your kids involved!

Sharpie - Vendor Spotlight at Craft Critique with Giveaway

Pop on over to Craft Critique to read my review of the way cool Sharpie Paint Markers, and the NEW Stainless Steel Sharpie!

There's even a Sharpie giveaway associated with the Vendor Spotlight! All you need to do is leave a comment on one of the Sharpie reviews that will be posted over the next few days for a chance to win one of 5 prizes.

Wishes....Fall in Love With Cardmaking

Wow! I'm psyched.

I just received 'Wishes', the newest book by Jeanette R. Lynton in my CTMH order and it is awesome! I have spent only a few minutes flipping the pages, and I'm already totally inspired. I just wish I could spend time crafting instead of working this afternoon.

If you don't know what Wishes is like, pop over to Craft Critique and read my article from a couple of weeks ago about the book Originals (also by Lynton). This will give you a good idea about how the book works. The Wishes book is identical in form and function, but the patterns/templates are all new!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that tonight I'll get to play with paper and hopefully have something to share with you all tomorrow.

Don't You Just Love the New Craft Critique Blinkie?

Check out my sidebar.....I think it is way cute! And.....as it would happen. I am featured over there today with my review of the Originals Card Confidence book by Jeanette R. Lynton. So pop on over and see what I think.....and then of course, let me know what YOU think. Happy Monday! Hope you all had a fantabulous weekend! I did!

It's Craft Critique Time Again

Click the CC logo and pop on over to read my review of the Scor-It by Hammonds Group! This is my new favourite tool, Absolutely!! 04/01/09 Edited to add: For those of you that were asking, the Scor-It retails for around $60, and is available at numerous online and brick and mortar scrapbook, and specialty paper/craft stores. On their website, there is a link (with a great little map) to help you find retailers in your local area, but here's a couple of sites that I visited to verify pricing. Donahue Paper Emporium ($59.95 USD) Ellen Hutson ($49.99 USD) Clear Bags ($59.95 CDN) ---> this is where I bought mine PawsonScrapbooking.com ($59.95 CDN)

Is it March already?

Man oh man. What can I say? I have yet again been absent from the blogosphere. I don't really have a good excuse either, although I wish I could say that I've been too busy crafting to post. Unfortunately though I shamefully admit that I haven't picked up scissors or glue in what seems like forever. Life happens. With that said, I did however want to pop in today and remind you that there is a HUGE giveaway at Craft Critique today. It's so big in fact, that I just couldn't let it pass you by without a reminder. So pop on over there and get all the details. Entering is easy....you need simply help spread the word about Craft Critique to someone, anyone and then tell the gals at Craft Critique how you've done it. It doesn't get any easier than that! Here's what you could win. The prize includes 3 full collections (Lime Rickey, Wassail, and Porcelain) and some embellishments from Basic Grey, American Crafts thickers and ribbon, Stampin’ Up! mini book, paper and stamps, A Muse notecards, Pearls and rhinestones from Kaiser Craft, glitter and sparkle decoupage from Duncan, scalloped chipboard book from Maya Road, photo splits from Scotch 3M, the books; Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More!, and Color Me Fierce!: A Fashion Activity Book with Six Glamorous Crayon...and more. Think of all the fun you could have with that bag of goodies! Oh....and if you're on Facebook, please do join Craft Critique Group there...that way you won't need to rely on lame old me to remind you of the next giveaway!!!!

New Review up on Craft Critique

Click here to read my thoughts on the CTMH Merry & Bright Holiday Card Kit. Since for the first time in a long time broadcasted the other day that I was a consultant, I do wish that I could have been a bit more positive and given the kit a higher rating. But.....I guess that's the way things shake out sometimes.

Is it November already?

and almost mid-month at that.

I have been a really bad blogger lately - I admit it - but life happens. To those of you that continue to visit while I'm AWAL, thanks! I even received an email from one of my readers asking if everything was okay - that was sweet.

So what's been happening? Well, where do I start. Perhaps the coolest thing going on right now is that Jessica Sprague's Stories in Hand class has started, and I've printed all my materials to assemble my binder. Today's job is to print and assemble the 'Jotter' notebook as she calls it. I'm a bit behind with the projects since I had some trouble sourcing a 6x6 D-Ring Binder, but it's all good now, I ordered it last night, and it should arrive eventually. I can't wait to get started actually using Jessica's system - I am quite excited to see how all of these pieces come together.

Secondly, I've been taking another online class over at Simplify 101 called Quick & Simple Clutter Control. I'm totally behind on this one, but plan to spend some time getting caught up over the next day or two. I figure now is the perfect time to leanr how to control clutter since we're moving into a very very busy holiday season.

Speaking of the holidays.....I've started my shopping (yay!) and I'm trying my best to get organized for the various family events. I have a breakfast, a dinner and a brunch to plan for as I am hosting all of these gatherings in a 3 day span beginning Christmas day. With this tight a schedule I need to plan plan plan.

I've been working on my digitial scrapbook album - you know the one that I've been working on for a while? One of my recent pages is up top and another double layout is below. I've been using a lot of page templates so that the whole process goes more quickly. So far so good, I've got about 15 pages done so far and the book is really starting to take shape. My original goal was to have this done and sent to print by the 15th of this month, but I don't think I'll quite make that deadline. I plan to work hard on it over the next week though - and get it sent out by the 21st. Wish me luck!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey! Both my kids are playing again this year and the season is well underway. With a game a practice for each of them each week, I am spending A LOT of time at the arena! Last Saturday in fact I was there for more than 4 hours straight, as each of the kids played and had team photos taken. What a long day that was!

I've got a highschool reunion coming up next weekend that I'm 'mostly' looking forward to (whatever will I wear?). It'll be nice to see everyone again, but I have to admit there's a little anxiety attached to the whole thing. I'm sure that I'm not alone in feeling this way - but I'll work through it and be there with bells on as they say. I wouldn't miss it actually. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. The reunion itself doubles as a fundraiser for one of my schoolmates Haydain Neale who was injured in an accident in August 2007. Some of you may know Haydain as the lead singer of Jacksoul. His injuries were quite severe and Haydain continues to endure rehabilitative therapies. Monies raised at the reunion will be donated to assist him and his family.

On Craft Critique yesterday I reviewed the Circle Circle Dot Dot template by The Crafter's Workshop and I've got one more review scheduled to run before the end of the year. I am really enjoying this opportunity. It gives me an excuse to play with paper (like I need one!) and as anyone who knows me will attest, I love to share my opinion.

Last but not least, work is busier than ever. It's that time of year again and once I get through the crunch of the last couple of months - things will be golden. (Note I say 'if' I get through it)

That's about it for now I think. Again -- Thanks to all of you who continue to visit my blog in my absence. I truly appreciate it.

It's a Giveaway!

from Bo Bunny at Craft Critique!!! Pop on over and leave us a comment - and let us know what product or products you'd like to see us review over the next year. The winner will be chosen randomly from all who play!

The Essential Glue Pad by Tsukineko

For those of you who haven't yet tried this little gem and were wondering how it worked, pop on over to Craft Critique today and read my review!

Craft Critique Announces their Newest Reporters

If you're a Craft Critique reader you already know that on Friday, the list of new reporters was announced. 6 talented crafters have been added to the team. All week, this week, you'll see their introductions, and their first articles appearing. I took a few minutes to blog hop them, and wow! there is some incredible talent there. I don't think that you'll be disappointed with the selections. Congratulations ladies, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better through Craft Critique.

September Starts

It seems that the summer has slipped by yet again and the kids are back to school without a hitch. It would also seem that lately I haven't had a great deal to blog about -- but in fact, it's been the opposite, I've had a lot to blog about and little time to do it. Apparently life happens, and there is little we can do to change that. So let's look at what I've been up to. Did you see my article on Craft Critique at the end of last month reviewing Alcohol Ink? This was a fun one to pull together. The cool news on this is that PartiCraft online magazine is also using it for their September issue (or at least they requested it). The gals at Craft Critique gave them the go ahead, but I haven't actually seen what they have put out. I've never heard of PartiCraft, have you? My sister and I took the kids to the African Lion Safari the other day, and my daughter was soooooo thrilled to finally accomplish what she's wanted to do since we went to the Circus earlier this year -- ride an elephant. She of course didn't want to do it on her own, so I accompanied her. I'm pretty sure that this was a first for me too. I think as a kid I rode a camel, but never an elephant. For the record.....their backs are surprisingly bony! (and not all that comfortable). Funny story actually -- while on the elephant's back, my daughter 'sniffs' and then very seriously says 'Do You Smell Something?' I couldn't help but laugh......because after do you think that it was 'the elephant' that she could smell! Canadian Scrapbooker Basics is set to publish for the first time this month and should have been available on newstands effective September 1. Unfortunately I haven't seen it yet but of my layouts is supposed to be in there. I haven't heard otherwise so at this point I am only assuming. If you're new to scrapbooking, this might be a great pub for you to check out. Here's the deets on the issue as found at the Canadian Scrapbooker website. "Canadian Scrapbooker Inc. is proud to present a limited edition of 5 exciting issues of Canadian Scrapbooker Basics “CSB” to be published over the next year and a half. This volume set will take you on a scrapbooking journey starting right from the beginning, removing any intimidation a beginner scrapbooker may feel when starting this wonderful hobby. It is designed to put the basics back into scrapbooking. Each additional volume will build on the one previous by adding techniques to help scrapbookers develop their skills. It will be extremely visually pleasing with easy to follow step-by-steps to ensure that the beginner scrapbooker is not intimated by this wonderful craft." And just a few more miscellaneous comments:

On Friday this week, I've got another review running on Craft Critique, which is all about Picasa. I can't say much more at this point (you'll have to wait to read the article), but I can tell you that I love this software for digital image management! It rocks! Coincidentally, yesterday - Picasa 3 was released from Google and although I haven't downloaded it yet (I'm having some trouble with that), it sounds better than ever. You can get the announcement from Google about the new features here.

Speaking of Google, have you downloaded the new internet based web browser "Chrome" that debuted yesterday. This morning on my Google search page the download link was there, but now for some reason it's gone. Hmmmm.

We are just one month away now (almost) from our October 4 Crop For A Cause event. It's time now to get our registrations firmed up and set all of our best laid plans into motion. I'm getting excited! Will you be joining us? There's a link to the details in my sidebar and before to contact me if you need additional info.

I haven't loaded a Template in a while, and set aside a few while I was cleaning up downstairs the other day -- so watch for and update to this section next Tuesday (hopefully). I've got a cute little favour bag pattern in mind to load.

I've been busy busy busy over the last week or so making plum 'stuff'. The stuff would be jams, jellies, chutney and salsa. My sister has a whole whack of fruit trees in her yard, and one of them is yup, a blue plum tree! I'm pretty amazed at how much fruit (and jars of stuff) yield from this one lonely tree. Incredible! Here's a couple of random pics. That is of course not quite the complete set of preserves I cooked up -- I've given away a few already. For the record, this one plum tree has yielded:

• 4 pints of plum jelly (which is waaayyy too much work in my opinion)
• 10 pints of plum jam
• 4 pints of plum-peach jam
• 4 pints of chutney (most of which I bottled in 1/4 pint jars) and
• my personal favourite, 4 pints of plum-peach salsa (bottled in 1/2 pint jars)

I will eventually scrap all of this info along with the recipes I used for each of the batches. Now, I just have to figure out now how much sugar, pectin and other ingredients went into it all - and then of course find some people to eat it!!

That's about it for now....I hope not to be quite so absent from the blogosphere this month -- but for now I'll just keep my fingers crossed as I can't make any promises.

Playing Catch Up

Wow! Just a week ago I was talking to my mom about how summer was only half over and how there was loads of time to be doing whatever we needed to be doing to enjoy ourselves --- today though, I have a very different outlook. Now that we are one week into August, it feels like time is slipping away and it feels more like Summer is just about ready to come to an end. Oh what a difference a week makes. Anyhow. I've been absent from the blogosphere for the last couple of weeks....and it feels really weird. I actually haven't even had time to blog surf, never mind write. Yikes! I hope things slow down soon. So here's the quick scoop on what's been going on.

1. Plans for the crop October 4th are really starting to fall into place. Our list of event sponsors is growing by the day and things are really coming together.
2. Voting at the You Kow You Rock Blog has commenced. The list of entries in their first ever challenge is huge and there's a lot of talent in this group for sure. It's really neat to see not only what people are listening to, but how one can be inspired to create based on the everyday. Pop on over and cast your vote for your favourite Rock The Cover entry.
3. I've been busy preparing my next 2 articles for Craft Critique -- the first will run next week (Friday I think) and is about Tombow Dual Brush Pens, and the second will run sometime later (I'm not sure exactly when) and that one is on Adirondack Alcohol Inks. I just love pulling these articles together, it gives me an excuse to play!!
4. We spent the holiday weekend at the cottage, and the kids had a blast showing their grandparents around when they stopped in for a visit. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures at all, but I know that my Dad did -- so I'll have to be sure to get some copies made.
5. I've done a couple more digital pages for my year-in-review book -- not near as many as I would have liked, but I've got a good start.
6. The kids spent last week at hockey camp - and had loads of fun (as I knew they would). It's so strange having to get out the hockey gear at this time of year -- it just doesn't seem normal.

That's it for the highlights (for the time being anyhow). Hopefully I can figure out how to cram some recreational computer time in the next week or so. There is no doubt that that has been a difficult, if not impossible task lately.

Kids Crafts on Craft Critique

Since summer is here, and you might be looking for crafts to keep your kids amused -- on Craft Critique this week we are reviewing Kids Crafts! My review of the FloraCraft Styrofoam Solar System Kit is up today. This is a project I purchased and put together with my 7 year old son. It hangs in his bedroom, and it has spurred much conversation between us at bedtimes. The downside -- he now wants to paint his ceiling BLACK of all things so he can see it better. (and that is NOT happening!!!).

Not a lot of time for crafting lately...

but I have had a chance to write another article for Craft Critique. The theme for the next week or two is storage, so I reviewed one of my all-time favourites, the Iris 12x12 Scrapbook Case (photo at right). Pop on over there and leave us a comment telling us what you think. Now when I say that I haven't had a lot of time for crafting, that's the truth, but I will admit that I've got a couple of pages in progress right now that I'll share soon. They just need a few finishing touches and they'll be good to go. Stay tuned!

Crazy about the Coluzzle

So I was all set to 'announce' my first article on Craft Critique today, but it seems that there was some confusion with the editors, and I was actually published yesterday. Now that in itself is not a problem, except that I was 'on the road' yesterday and didn't get notification of the posting until late last evening. So pop on over to Craft Critique if you get a minute and check out my post from yesterday about the Coluzzle Cutting System by Provocraft -- one of my all-time favourite tools!

My Big News for Monday!

I've been selected for a six month position as a Staff Reporter for Craft Critique and I am sooooo excited! You all know how I love to give you my opinion on things.....and now I get to do it officially! {Smile} My term starts April 1st and runs through the end of September. I for one am a big fan of this site - and it's the first place I go to get information about products I might be looking to try or buy. So be sure to pop on over and check it out. You can get un-biased opinions on all of the latest and greatest stamp & scrap supplies out there. I am one of 15 new staff reporters recently signed and you can view the whole list here. There is a lot of talent in this group (check out their blogs) and I am just honoured to have been chosen among them. This is going to be so much fun!