maria's craft room

Hello!

Hi there!  Hope you're doing well:)  So you've noticed by now that from time to time I skip blogging for a few days, right?  This time I can credit the recent holiday for part of my lack of routine...but the real culprit is an early Christmas gift that I received from my husband.  Yes, he who can not keep a secret from me had to gift me with this item the moment it arrived at our house.  And I've fallen under this item's spell so quickly that I'm wondering whether or not it was truly a gift for me...or for my husband so that he'd have more time for himself on our computer and less clutter around the house!  What is this item that has consumed my time?!?  A Kindle!!!  Oh my gosh this thing is incredible.  It's perfect for a reader like me who usually buys paperbacks every now and again.   Right now I'm zooming through the Charlaine Harris 'Sookie Stackhouse' series.  I need to make sure that I don't spend any more money on books than I usually do...it's so stinkin' easy to download books to this thing.  It was fabulous while I was sick last week.  I just draped myself along the couch with a pillow and blanket and shopped for a new book when I finished what I had already.  For a reader like me a Kindle is like a little piece of heaven.  *happy sigh*  Ok...enough about my Kindle.  I've got to get to work!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:  All Papertrey except SU butterfly die and unk ribbon scrap
 

New Moon, New Cold...and a Card.

Hi there!  Hope you had a good weekend.  Did you go to see New Moon?  I did.  I liked it:)  And I came down with a cold that has settled in my chest.  Just in time for the holiday...timing is everything!   But hey...it's a short work week so no big deal.  Today's card is one that I made as a group card for our office...one of the girls got married recently.  Her 'signature' color is orange, so of course I had to work that in somehow.  And those flowers?  I used the tiniest little punch imaginable from the Flower Bunch.  It's so small that I had to use my thumb to make it work!  Speaking of work, I'd better get moving.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:  everything Papertrey except SU sentiment, MME paper, Chalk Box ink, liquid pearls, The Flower Bunch punch, scor-pal 

Loonie Stampers Challenge #65: Surprise!

Hi there!  Welcome to the Loonie Stampers birthday blog tour in honor of Charlene:)  Our girl's odometer turned over earlier this week (just kidding, Char!) and so we're having a bit of a surprise party for her.  We gave her a fake challenge and color map this week as part of our cover...hopefully we fooled her!  In addition to us Loonies, there are a bunch of friends celebrating, too.  So grab a cup of whatever you enjoy and settle in for some birthday inspiration in honor of Char:)

The Loonies:

Char   Dee   Jewels   Regan   Wendy

Fabulous Friends:

Sue Pardue   Pam Imhotz   Char Cundy   Steph Day

Ashley Newell   Carly Robertson   Dana White

Jessica Diedrich   Michelle Woerner   Krissy

Nancy McKinney   Christie Ortman

Play along!  Link up your creation to the comments section under any of our Loonie blogs...we love to come visit you!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:  Colorbox roan chalk ink, Papertrey melon berry, berry sorbet and pure poppy inks and Ranger antique linen ink; Papertrey cardstock; October Afternoon paper; Papertrey button; Marvy punches; Martha Stewart twine; May Arts ribbon; SU stamp; Nestabilities labels 8
  

 
 
 
 

Loonie Stampers Challenge #61

Hi there!  TGIF, right?  This week was Wendy's turn to pick and I just about jumped up and down when I saw the details.  This card is truly a Loonie card for me for several reasons.  One, the green and chocolate papers were a gift from Dee (I think it was just Dee...the girls found the pack of papers for pennies and split it amongst all of us while we were at the beach together), I borrowed Regan's Kim Hughes stamps for the image, used Char's Memento ink to stamp it (or was it Regan's?), and Wendy patiently worked with me to show me how to use my Copics to color it.  That Wendy is a natural when it comes to coloring!!!  This card makes me happy because it makes me feel like I'm back at the beach with the girls.  Good times!  And now let's go check out what each of the others created:

Char   Dee   Jewels   Regan   Wendy

Play along!  Link up your creation to the comments section under any of our blogs...we love to come visit you!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Inbound: Loonies...and another baby card

Hi there!  I'll keep this short and sweet (hah!  sweet...pea...ok, I'll stop).  Well a few of my Loonie girls are in the air at the moment and I'll be picking them up from the airport soon.  The house is nearly ready and the car swapping is complete.  Can you believe my sister let me swap cars with her so that I can cart my Loonies around in a minivan?  How cool is she?!  And I swore I'd never drive a minivan...

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'll be back Friday with two cards to share...our Loonie Challenge in the morning and a PTI blog hop entry in the evening.  (Yes, I finished my blog hop card but I haven't dusted the bedrooms yet.  Priorities, you know.) 

Until next time...M

Supplies:  All Papertrey except background stamp which is SU

Out of My Comfort Zone

Hi there!  I did it again...tried to do something out of my 'normal'.  Not sure I like it, but I thought I'd be brave and share it with you.  And check it out:  I dug out one of my old SU background stamps!  They've been buried in the back of a cabinet and I just 'found' them again.  It's almost like getting new toys:)  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:  inks and cardstocks are Papertrey, stamps are Papertrey and SU, bling from my stash, button and twine from Papertrey, ribbon from May Arts, Nestie, flower made by my friend Jewels

Homemade Gifts For Fran

Hi there!  It's Saturday, the sun is shining, and I think there are pancakes in my future.  Needless to say, I'm smiling!!!  Today I thought I'd share with you a couple of birthday gifts that I made for my friend, Fran.  This first one started with the jar.  I've been using a lot of these jars for craft storage, and I had an empty one sitting out on my desk.  What to do...what to do? 

Make a homemade Papertrey button sampler, of course!  I happen to have all of the Papertrey button colors (what?  some women collect shoes...I have craft supplies) so I grabbed some of each and put this together.  I used pinking shears to cut out the muslin topper, used tea dyes to age the edges, and stamped the sentiment in the center.  One of Fran's favorite colors is olive green, hence the color combo for decoration.

This other homemade gift didn't photograph so well, but it's a checkbook cover.  Uh huh.  When you love eating crabs and you craft, a seafood-themed checkbook cover is a perfect gift, no?  *giggle*  Fran liked it and that made me very happy.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Papertrey ripe avocado, dark chocolate and tea dye duo

Cardstock:  Papertrey vintage cream

Stamps:  Papertrey Tags For Spring and Fresh Alphabet, SU Crab & Company

Other:  Copics, Cuttlebug tag die, Papertrey ribbon, pinking shears, muslin scrap, clear checkbook cover, half-pint Mason jar, Exacto knife (to cut the crab claws and stick in the sign)

 

Loonie Stampers Challenge #49

  Hi there!  TGIF, as always:)  And whoa!  Wendy picked the challenge this week...I think she was still mad at me for picking a Christmas theme last week!!  *smiles*  Ok, so we have a color challenge combined with a supplies challenge...let's get to it, shall we?

Hah!  I feel so clever.  I wanted to make the simplest card possible for the challenge:)  My flower is the ribbon, three of the colors, the button and a brad that looks like a button, too!  It took me a while to find a button that was 'broken' in the middle so that I could center a brad in it.  Found it in my spring moss jar...the last one I checked!  Oh - and as you can see, our girl Jewels is back to creating our graphics.  Not a moment too soon...Jewels you rock!

Now go check out the other Loonies to see what they did with the challenge: 

Char   Dee   Jewels   Regan   Wendy

Play along!  Link up your creation to the comments section under any of our blogs...we love to come visit you!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  papertrey dark chocolate, fresh snow and chai tea dye

Cardstock:  papertrey select white and kraft

Stamps:  papertrey simple little things and SU Polka Dot backgrounder

Other:  may arts leaf ribbon, SU oval punches, papertrey button, brad from my stash, crocheted flower by our very own Jewels!

Howdy

Hi there!  Just a quick little Howdy this morning...still loving that Cosmo Cricket paper.  So much so, in fact, that I went digging through my SU stamps to find images to color to match.  I picked up this set when my youngest sister lived in Texas.  Oh so glad they're back home!!!  I had time off yesterday so I arranged to have lunch with her and the twins.  They are getting so big!  And they're so well-behaved.  Really.  Yes, I'm biased, but trust me...it was a fun time for all yesterday.  They're speaking in complete sentences now and all they have to do is turn their big eyes on me and say "pease, Aunt Ria" and I melt.  My oldest niece started the Aunt Ria thing and I happen to love that the three of them can't say my whole name.  But shhhh, don't tell them that I melt.  Lord knows what they would ask me for!!!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink and Cardstock:  papertrey; Stamps SU; ribbon May Arts; twine papertrey, Nesties and Copics

Elephants For Lisa...or Doggie Dental Central?

Hi there!  Happy Tuesday to you...hope you're doing well.  And no, no need to adjust your monitor.  I did voluntarily use purple in these cards!!!  I made this set for another of my brunch girlfriends; she loves elephants:)  In fact, I bought this SU set just for the elephant so that I could eventually make something for Lisa.  And I paired the image with that sentiment on purpose...kinda tongue-in-cheek.  Elephants never forget!  Hah!  I crack myself up, at least. 

And would you believe that I've had to take Deuce to the vet four times in the month of June?  Leg problems, allergy problems, reaction to medication and now...an abscessed tooth! 

When I left the house yesterday he was fine.  When I returned from work he looked like this first picture.  I immediately thought 'abscess!'.   I also thought of a few choice words because I never budget for four vet visits in one month!!!  We got him into the vet within a couple of hours and we were even able to have him seen by our absolute favorite doctor in the practice.   It turns out that it's no big deal...treat with antibiotics and hope that's the end of it.  Well...I woke up this morning to find this pitiful thing next to me:

The entire side of his face is now swollen!  Yikes!  My poor little guy.  I think there's some homemade chicken and rice coming his way tonight:) 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Papertrey true black and SU elegant eggplant

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white

Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye

Stamps:  SU (argh...it's a baby set...forget the name...sorry), Papertrey Everyday Classics (sentiment)

Other:  Labels Three nesties, Papertrey spring rain buttons, SU silver cording

CBC Challenge #22: Sketch

Hi there!  Happy Tuesday to you.  It's time for the next CBC challenge and this week Courtney's given us a sketch.  I had fun with it and decided to make a birthday card.  And what better for a birthday card than BasicGrey's Euphoria papers?   

Be sure to check out the other challenge chicks:

Courtney   Chris   Dani   Holly   Kim

Lori   Maria   Sarah   Sparkle

And play along!  If you leave a link in the comments section on Courtney's  blog you'll be eligible to win a prize.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Papertrey dark chocolate, SU purely pomegranate

Cardstsock:  Papertrey select white; BasicGrey Euphoria papers

Stamps:  SU hugs and wishes; Papertrey It's a Celebration

Other:  Papertrey ribbon, crystal stickles

RAK from Wendy

  Hi there!  It's Thursday - whoo hoo!  The day before Friday.  Check out this beautiful card that Wendy  sent to me for Thanksgiving.  It was raining the day it arrived, so imagine how goofy I must have looked at my mailbox as I shoved the mail under my sweater and ran up the driveway with a smile on my face.  Ahhh...good times, good times.  Doesn't Wendy do the coolest layering?  I keep telling her that.  Her cards are all gorgeous.  For a good time, go visit her blog.  She never disappoints!  (Oh Wendy...please forgive me!) 

All of us Loonies will be back tomorrow morning with the latest Loonie Stampers Challenge.  Dee picked the colors this time.  And guess what?  This week we're going to pick a 'winner' from those that play along and they'll receive a little gift from Dee:)  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Holiday Notecards

 Hi everyone!  Hope your Monday is going well.  We've had an interesting 24 hours around here.  I'll start by sharing what I've learned:  my husband should stick to golf as a networking activity.  See, he went to a go cart track with a bunch of work friends last evening and...well...after spending quite some time at the doctor's office today we've confirmed that among other injuries he cracked some ribs.  Oh yes.  And he'll be just fine in a few weeks, thank goodness.  But guess what the husband boasts?  (Picture sensitive guy gingerly beating on his chest.)  "Grrr...I'm a man!  I still did another twenty laps with the guys after my crash."  My response?  Not appropriate for this blog!!!  Anyhow, I meant to share these notecards with you yesterday.  Every Christmas I find myself

in need of quick cards, whether it be for a little 'hello' or a timely thank you.  I want to be ready this year and so I whipped these together using some odds and ends laying around on my desk.  Of course, I must give credit to Mish for the inspiration.  Love her blog!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU old olive

Cardstock:  Papertrey vintage cream, spring moss, pure poppy; SU old olive

Stamps:  Papertrey Polkadot Basics, SU Riveting

Other:  SU gingham ribbon, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 circle punches, SU scalloped circle punch

 

Born In The USA

  Hi!  How are you doing?  All is well here, though I have to admit that I lost a few hours this evening.  Ever tell yourself that you're just going to sit down for a minute and then find out hours later that you fell asleep?  Yep, that was my night.  Ooops!  So I sat down at my desk a little while ago to make something to share with you and I thought I'd go with an americana theme in honor of Patriot Day (9/11).  I can still vividly remember key moments from that day.  Kristen - remember how I spent hours at your desk watching the CNN broadcast?  I do.  Especially the moment when CNN came back from commercial break and the hazy picture only showed one tower.  So tonight I said a prayer for all those lost that day as well as all of the men and women serving our country in the armed forces.  As far as the card goes, it's pretty basic.  To add some interest I did some paper piercing and hand-stitched with linen thread.  The chipboard letters are Heidi Swapp and I smashed my blue bayou inkpad on them a few times to give an effect similar to the patterned paper.  The white title flag was fun to make.  I've seen them a lot lately and they're a great option to ribbon, no?  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'll do my best to stay awake tomorrow!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU blue bayou

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white; SU western sky patterned papers

Stamps:  Papertrey simple alphabet

Other:  linen thread, Heidi Swapp white chipboard letters

LSC #6

  Hi there!  Hope your weekend is off to a good start.  Not a whole lot of activity going on here; what's left of hurricane Hannah is passing through now.  Just a lot of rain and gusty winds but no damage is expected, thank goodness!  It's time for the latest LSC and this time my friend Regan chose the colors.

We're to use dark chocolate, pure poppy and summer sunrise.  I decided to live on the edge and throw in some vintage cream, too!  I had an additional challenge due to an injury I suffered at work yesterday afternoon.  (It's also why I wasn't able to post last night.)  I didn't realize it at the time, but I really hurt my right arm and shoulder while moving some boxes around the office.  Consequently my right arm is completely immobilized and I'm actually taking pain meds.  I avoid meds like the plague!  Lucky for me I'm left handed, so I had to come up with a design I could execute with - literally - one arm tied to my side.  But crafting trooper that I am (I'm so making fun of myself here) I pushed through!  I used the rock and roll technique and kept it simple.  Alas, I find myself unable to perform housework this weekend.  Am I shameless or what?!!  Anyhow, the flowers are from Floral Frenzy, the polka dots from Rustic Branches, and the sentiment from an old SU hostess set.  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Until next time...M

Supplies:  

Ink:  Papertrey's dark chocolate, pure poppy and summer sunrise

Cardstock:  Papertrey's vintage cream and dark chocolate

Stamps:  Papertrey Floral Frenzy and Rustic Branches; SU Small Script

Other:  Pure Poppy ribbon, SU slot plunch, SU distressing tool