GNO Update

I've been working with the new In-Colors and guess what? I love them! Yes! Our Girl's Night Out project is going to incorporate the newest colors too. Below is a sneak peak for the actual Birdhouse card box we will make on Friday.

We will also have a set of cards to coordinate with the box. Woo hoo! I think this project is super cute. If you can't attend, I will mail you all the info and supplies (minus adhesive) to make the complete project. See THIS POST for pricing and details.

happy stampin'

Tragedy

** Edited Tuesday, July 7**
The person committing these horrible crimes against our community was killed in a shoot-out with police yesterday. His reign of terror has come to an end. Please continue to pray for our community as the families try to piece their lives back together. Five wonderful, innocent people were murdered, and we will be forever changed because of the horrible crimes.

I try to limit my blogging to projects with a few personal posts thrown in from time to time. However, this week has been unusual and I feel that there are many blog readers who would be willing to join with me in prayer. Tragedy has struck our small town twice in one week. Please pray for the family and friends of the victims. Also, I would ask that you pray that the person who committed these unspeakable crimes would be caught and brought swiftly to justice.

Altered Spinner class

I taught a class today at Funkie Munkie Scraps and wanted to share the photos with you all {or y'all}. It was small group, but such a fun class. Really, smaller most often ends up being more fun because you can really talk and get to know each other better.

We altered a spinner designed to hold remote controls. However, our spinners will probably end up on craft desks or work desks instead! They are too pretty to drop a remote and tv guide inside, lol!

Here is a slide show for you:

If you are in the area of Funkie Munkie Scraps {Greer, SC}, you really should stop by. It's a great store with stamps, papers, and all sorts of fun things!

happy stampin'

more family time

Just for fun, here are a few more photos of our vacation. This is my absolute favorite part of summer ... I love the beach! In my dreams we live ocean front and frolic in the sand every day!

And, please excuse any wonky formatting ... Blogger has been playing around with me on the last couple of posts ... ugh!

our 3 kiddos

shelling at low tide

hermit crabs

happy stampin'

July Project + GNO

Here is a sneak peek at my July Class. In the class we will make 4 cards plus the cutest birdhouse card holder! The photo below shows most of the project with more details following.

I love the birdie theme ... it's very summery to me. What do you think?




A little more info on the projects -- if I receive my new product order from SU in time, we will make the project using the NEW In-Colors and ribbon - which are simply divine - woo hoo!

Ok, here are the details -- please note, this month you have TWO options to take this class:

Option 1 ~ Hands on class with me

Class date: July 10th @ Girl's Night Out,

6pm, Senior Centers of Cherokee Co.

Cost: $10

which includes all supplies to make 4 cards and

the birdhouse card holder, plus a detailed take home

instruction sheet so you can make more!!!

Option 2 ~ Class Kit on your own
Class date: Anytime!
Cost: $14
which includes shipping and all supplies, except adhesive, to make 4 cards and the birdhouse cardholder, plus a detailed instruction sheet to explain every step, just as if I were there with you (maybe even better!).

I will also pre-stamp the kit if you request.

If 10 people sign up for the class - either option - I will have a drawing for a sampler of new In-Color products (cardstock & ribbon).

To sign up, email or call me. You can also take a chance and show up at Girl's Night Out and maybe I will have an extra kit available -- but it's always best to let me know ahead of time so I can have plenty of kits prepared!

happy stampin'

Family time

Sometimes silence is a good thing ... I've been hanging out with the family on vacation. It was so much fun I hated to see this week come to an end, of course I knew it couldn't last forever. An additional bonus to vacationing was a nice little side trip to Scrapbooks by the Sea. The store is under new ownership, and in a larger building. It's nothing like my fav lss, but it was fun to see some different product ... and yes, maybe buy a little bit too.

Here is a photo of our family from the trip:

happy stampin'

Don't miss this

This is a wonderful opportunity you don't want to miss if you are new to digital editing:

We all know LOTS of people who could really love Photoshop if they gave it a try - this FREE class is a perfect chance for you to share the experience with a friend or loved one while you both learn something great! Please help pass the good word along!

Registration is 100% free, and simply requires that you create an account here at JessicaSprague.com. You must register during our Birthday Celebration, which runs from June 22-28, 2009. Free registration ends on June 28. Class begins on July 6. I'll send out a link for you to click, and you'll be in!

Now, leave a little room for me to get in on the class too, ok? LOL.

happy stampin'

Crop Cherokee

I am happy to report that the 2nd annual Crop Cherokee was a smashing success! The crop is a fundraiser for our local Senior Center. We had the best group of ladies attend, including Debby Lewis, 2008 Fiskateer of the Year! Debby brought a make'n take that was such fun. I'll have to get a photo of it posted soon.

We cropped, shopped and snacked for a full 12 hours ~ it only seemed like 2 hours, but that's probably because we were busy scrapping and socializing! Enough chatter, here are a few photos from the day:

The Grand Prize winners: Debby, Ann, Stacey and Sherry.

Our crop room -- everyone had their own table.

Steph signing up to be a Fiskateer - woo hoo!

Debby & Joan, Director of the Senior Center and my BFF!

Our lovely group of ladies!

Joan put so much time and work into making Crop Cherokee an amazing success! I can't wait to do it all over again next year!

On a side note -- if you're sad you missed this crop and want to attend one that will be just as much fun, there is a Fiskateer crop planned in September for the Columbia area. You must be a Fiskateer - email me and I'll help you get signed up -- it's free and easy! After you have your number, visit Debby's blog and tell her you want to come. I promise it will be an awesome event - and the price is sooo reasonable, you won't believe it.

happy stampin'

AI Babeeee!

No, we don't just go to concerts! I know that's what you are thinking, lol. My daughter went to the American Idol tour w/ her good friends last summer and they had a blast! All the idol contestants came out to sign autographs and they were able to get up close and personal with their favs.


I've switched to a different size album, and it's been a little difficult for me adapting to a smaller page. I like to use a lot of photos, so it's limiting me somewhat. But I love working with the 8 1/2 x 11 page size because I can run it through my printer if I choose ~ not that I've done that yet ... I'm just sayin' ...

Supplies: cardstock - SU and Bazzill, Die-cut letters - Cricut, embossed heart - Sizzix folder, rhinestones.

happy stampin'

MySpace 2

Part 2 of MySpace.
This is one embellishment drawer. I love the little white buckets (Dollar Tree).

Another drawer holds smaller Sizzix dies. The larger dies are in another drawer I forgot to photograph. And the Bigz dies are on an open shelf. All are directly below the Big Shot, where they are within easy reach.

Below you see storage for additional dies -- the silver metal box up on top of the shelf holds Nesties. The blue tin holds Cuttlebug folders. A Quickutz binder holds alphas and a black magnetic folder behind it holds more Nesties. I want to move all my Nesties to these magnetic folders, but everywhere I look they are sold out.


Under the paper cutter is one basket. This one holds paper pads that I use to make cards. This is the best solution I've found so far ... I don't find these pads easy to store ... or maybe I just have too many. hmmmm.

The other basket holds additional ribbons. These are ones that didn't make it into the glass jars above my desk. I have way too many ribbons!

Last thing I want to show is a paper storage unit, flipped on it's side. I use 12x12 boxes as "drawers" to keep the most recent items close at hand.

The top "drawer" holds recent stamp purchases ... so I remember to ink them up!

Other "drawers" hold current paper or projects that I want to work on.

That's it. I didn't take shots of the ribbon or button jars, because that's pretty self-explanatory. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Thanks for humoring me!! Maybe one day ~ far in the future ~ I will have a real craft room to frolic in, lol!

happy stampin'

Oh My Gosh!

I had so much fun this past week with my Fiskafriends! These ladies are CRAZY! And I mean that in the nicest way possible. If you have any doubts - head over to the Funkie Munkie blog to view the slide show.

It's only half as hilarious as the weekend was! I'm pictured, my bff twinkie Joan, the sweetest Sudie, Steph and Lisa who are so, so, generous, and the Scrappin'Sista Steph who was the belle of the ball in her orange evening gown. I don't think I have ever laughed so much. I LOVE these ladies!

happy stampin'

MySpace

Literally, this is my crafting space! I have taken over the back part of our bedroom. The area is about 5' x 12'. Not quite large enough to hold all my stuff ... so I have a bunch of things crammed in my closet too. I mean, who needs clothes anyway, am I right? Well, maybe one or two really comfortable jammies, but otherwise ...

I have been trying to purge, clean and organize this space for quite some time now. I am not sure how long it's been, but I'm guessing maybe I started late summer '08? That is really a long time, huh? I guess I'm slow.

This is the main corner of MySpace. Where my desk sits, and most of the tools I reach for regularly. It looks kind of messy, but this is really clean!!!

On the shelves above my desk I have ribbons and buttons in jars and bins, misc. mounted rubber stamps, binders with unmounted stamps, boxes with reinkers, scissors, pens, envelopes and all kinds of things (all labeled), 2 boxes of cards waiting on the perfect occasion, tons of adhesive, stamp cleaner and paper flowers. To the left are two caddies that hold all my fav tools, a Clip-it-up, and the SU ink caddy.

Looking further to the left, is the back wall of our bedroom, and more storage for me! I really like the storage cubes. Mine came from Michaels and Target. Most were 50% off during a sale, thankfully. The drawers, shelves, etc. are really convenient for storage and everything fits which isn't always the case with Iris carts or other storage units I've tried.

Beside the ink pad caddy is a spice holder with MM paints, a basket for the beloved Copics, and more storage. The cards are hanging from a magnetic rope. I think I would like another one to hang over the other half of the back window. I like seeing cards out in view.

Further to the left ... more storage! yay! There are cutting tools on top of the units - Tonic cutter, Big Shot and Cricut. The baskets hold ribbon and paper pads ~ which I'll show in more detail in another post. I'll also share shots of the inside of a few drawers, just to illustrate how I am using the storage units.

My beloved Copics in a handmade basket. Ready to just pick up and go! The box underneath (look closely, there is a box there) is a 12x12 album box which I keep all the stamped images I plan to color w/ Copics. I can grab the basket and box and be ready to color any place at a moment's notice.

A closer shot of the magnetic rope with a selection of cards I've made ~ except for the "Hello" card which was made by Stephanie Hamilton and sent w/ some blog candy I won from her.

That's probably more than you wanted to see today! I have one more post about MySpace, then I'll stop boring you and get back to projects.

happy stampin'

JM Live

Another quick paqe to share today. This is from a concert we attended in August '08 in Charlotte, but I just got around to making the page. oops. We saw John Mayer, one of my favorite artists. Our whole family went, and our good friends came with us, but these were the only decent photos ... so my apologies to my husband, younger son, and good friend who are not shown (although they probably don't care that much).



I also didn't realize there was such a glare on the large photo until I was ready to post. Oh well. Maybe the glare is from the awesome Spica glitter pen, lol. But seriously, check out the star below ... see how glittery???




Supplies: Cardstock - SU, Die-cuts - Cricut, Spica glitter pens.


happy stampin'

winner, winner, chicken dinner!

So very proud of my daughter who won the Creative Writing award at her college's academic banquet the other week. I'm not supposed to make a big deal about it ...

but what the heck ...

here she is with her award:

What mom wouldn't be proud?

happy stampin'

This week I am so thrilled to attend not one, but three crops! woo hoo! Other than our monthly Girl's Night Out, I don't often go to a crop, so it's funny that this week has three events.

The first one is Tuesday, it is more of a meet & greet than a crop, but since the sponsor is the marketing company for Fiskars I have a feeling there will be some crafty goodness going on at some point during the evening. Everyone attending is a Fiskateer ~ which I suppose explains why we are all gathering together.

I made this layout the other weekend, and it seemed an appropriate post for this week.

Supplies: Pattern paper - American Crafts, Cardstock - SU, Ribbon - Making Memories, Storybook Cricut Cartridge, Border Punch - Fiskars, rhinestones.

happy stampin'

Quick Card

I needed a quick card today. My youngest son was invited to a birthday party, and we realized late last night the party started at 9:30 am! So this morning I threw this card together using a sheet of cute paper, cardstock and die-cuts.

I'll have to go look up the supply information and post it later today.

happy stampin'

Wild Strawberries

We have wild strawberries growing in our backyard ~ in a flower bed that has been ignored for too long. I've never done anything with them, but there are more than I've ever seen this year, so I decided to pick them and try them out.

I have to admit, they look prettier than they taste! The berries are bland, and really don't have much taste at all. I think I am still going to add a little sugar and let them sit in the refrigerator. Maybe if we add a some ice cream and whipped cream they will be tastier. If not, then I'll know to leave them for the rabbits next year, ha!

happy stampin'

PMS Jaina Fairy

There's a new stamp company in town! Literally, the owner lives about 45 minutes away in Greenville and teaches at my new fave LSS, The Funkie Munkie. PMS, in case you are wondering, stands for Paper Makeup Stamps!

This is my first post using a PMS image. I also managed to complete two challenges in one with this project ~ woo hoo for me! The first challenge was issued on Katie Cotton's blog (PMS owner), to make a bookmark. Here is my slightly blurry version :

Now a closer look at Jaina Fairy, and a little more in focus. She's lovely, isn't she! I colored her with Copics, the colors were from the Copic Colour Challenge blog. The challenge colors were Acid Yellow Y08, Brick Beige E31, and Mint Green BG13. I threw in a few additional colors for shading, but built the color scheme off the challenge colors.

The bookmark is topped off with Prima flowers and a brad by Spare Parts. The ovals were cut using Nestabilities. I cut the scallop oval out of white cardstock and used the BG13 pen to color it to match. The ribbons are from SU and Making Memories. You can't see the glitter, but I used a generous amount of Spica glitter pen on the fairy ~ aren't all fairies supposed to be glittery?

Just for reference, I took a photo of the back side so you could see how I finished the bookmark. You could easily add a sentiment, or signature to the back side if using for a gift.

Thanks for reading today, and be sure to visit PMS stamps to see what they have to offer!

happy stampin'

hmmm ...

After uploading a new blog template all my gadgets moved to strange new places! I am working on getting everything back in it's rightful place, until then, please ignore anything that looks weird {including me, lol}!

I hope everyone is enjoying National Scrapbooking Day! Me? I'm at work ... so no crafty goodness happing here. Maybe later.

happy stampin'

Whoa! (plus blog candy)

It sure has been a long time since I posted! I must do better! The stamps I ordered earlier in the month just arrived this past week, I haven't even had time to trim them much less ink them up! As soon as I do, I will be sure to post here. I'm thinking the Superhero Dad will make a fantastic Father's Day card ...

I spent the day yesterday with my BFF at a charity crop. It was such fun, and they treated us like Queens! The buffet table was overflowing, we bopped to disco music all day, and we even had wi-fi available! I am never super productive at crops, but it's wonderful to just hang out with other ladies who like to papercraft, that I don't even care how much I get accomplished!

Lastly, I want to share this fantastical blog candy with you. It's up for grabs at Passion for Crafts. And, it's some of the bestest blog candy I've seen recently. Good luck (but I hope I win, lol!)

happy stampin'

Oh baby! New Stamps + Blog Candy

There is a new image release over at Starving Artistamps ... and I really like them! Their Doodle Factory images are a little wacky & cartoonish which makes them very unique, however, that is only one of the Starving Artistamps lines. They have some nice realisitc images too. But ~ the best news, is that the Starving Artistamps blog is giving away new stamps for blog candy; you can check out the prize and rules here: Starving Artistamps Blog.

I am entering for the blog candy, but the new Super Parents stamp images were just too cute. I had to have them asap! So I went ahead and ordered these two sets:

Do you love those "Super Parents" as much as I do? I think they are hilarious! And I just liked the row of houses .. looks like they will be perfect for coloring with Copics. I also ordered a container of Flower Soft ... which I can't wait to get my crafty little hands on!

I saw four really cool background stamps that make landscapes in the Doodlefactory line ... not sure why I didn't go ahead and order those too. I guess that will give me an excuse for placing another order soon! And be sure to check out the beautiful floral stamp images at their site. Starving Artistamps has quite a variety available. I'm glad I stumbled upon them today.

happy stampin'

Looking for a few suggestions

I shipped off my Wizard today. Hopefully by this time next week I will be happily die cutting and embossing paper.

Tomorrow I am taking my son for a sleep study. Since he is a minor, a parent has to stay with him (in the same room), and since my dh is a fantastic snorer, I am the one who is staying overnight. Too bad I can't carry some projects with me! That would be awesome. If anyone has suggestions for reading material, or other things I can do to pass the time please leave me a comment. I doubt we'll have internet access, so I won't be able to surf.

I got a new stamp set today by The Greeting Farm. Maybe I can have a couple of samples to show you by next week. Until then ...

happy stampin'

F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N

note: If you don't like reading negative posts then go no further. Avert your eyes and click on another website. Today is not pretty, and there are no projects to share.



Ever felt that way before? I mean, frustrated with all capital letters ... that's about as bad as it gets with me! The reason I am so upset is because I ordered a nice little item last week, and was sooo excited to have it arrive ...
but it doesn't work.
period.

If you know me, you know how much I love, love, love the Nestability dies from Spellbinders. I collect them. They are all so wonderful and versatile. So, I figured it was time to buy the Wizard die cut machine by the same company who makes the dies. I just thought it made sense. Who knew that little 4 lb. raspberry piece of metal would make my blood pressure rise, my arm sore and pimples pop out on my chin???

{well, maybe it didn't cause my pimples...}

Ok, so right off the bat I have trouble w/ the die sandwich going through the machine. Finally, after multiple attempts it starts through the machine only to get STUCK half way ... no problem, there is a reverse switch, I just flipped it and tried to back out the die sandwich ... guess what?

Didn't budge.

It appears the rollers are digging into the cutting plate and it's not going anywhere. Fine. Called the company and get a very unsympathetic young woman who really sounded like she could care less. She basically told me it was probably my fault, and I should send it back on my dime and "maybe" they could repair it. Either way, no new replacement would be sent, and I would get the same machine back with the damaged cutting pads included ...

did I mention this is all on my dime?

Yep.

Don't think so.

Well ~ long story, short. I am sending it back to QVC for a replacement machine {new, I might add and free postage to boot}. QVC customer service was so polite and at least sounded sympathetic to my plight, unlike the manufacturer. At least I did one thing right by purchasing through a company who will stand behind the items they sell. If the second machine doesn't work then I will just trash it and go back to my beloved Big Shot.

I think I like it better anyway!

not-so-happy stampin' today,