MAKE YOUR OWN PATTERNED PAPER

Here is a page of patterned paper that I made out of white cardstock, Tangerine, Wisteria, and Chestnut Roan Clearsnap Chalk Box Inks, and a stamp set from Autumn Leaves called Spring by Sande Krieger. The Tangerine ink is linked to the Orange Crush Bazzill Cardstock on our site as a matchability set, so I pulled some of the cardstock and created this card. You will never have to worry about finding just the right patterned paper again....you just make it yourself!

Card is antiqued by using Antique Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holtz and the butterfly is from Romance of Spring Stamp Set, also by Sande Krieger.

This is so cool!

My next door neighbor and good friend, Terri Bateman just returned from a trip to Africa where she went as an engineer/advisor for a group of BYU students who designed and developed a coconut press that will help poor East African women to be able to improve their way of living, by making coconut oil faster and easier, thus making more money. Here is a link to the article in the Daily Herald about it. Way to go, Terri!

MATCHABILITY

We have something on our website that we call "Matchability". That means simply that we have taken the guess work out of matching up items that you purchase from our site. We stamped all of the ink pads, both Clearsnap Chalk box and the Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, from Ranger. Then we took Bazzill Cardstock samples and matched them to the color of the ink. Next, we took all of our brads, ribbons, buttons, and other embellishments and found colors in the packages that match the paper and ink. When you click on any of those items, a flower icon pops up that is a link to other matching items. You can totally coordinate your scrapbook page using this system. Cardstock, ink and embellishments that you know are going to match, makes scrapbooking or card making that much easier!Have you ever made your own matching paper out of white cardstock, an ink pad or two, and a stamp set? Very fun, easy and guarantees a patterned paper that matches your solid color Bazzill. I love making my own matching patterned paper.

Steel Days in American Fork

This is our big week long celebration in American Fork, Utah. In the 1870s, American Fork served as a rail access point for mining activities in A.F. canyon. For several decades in the 1900s, raising chickens (and eggs) was an important industry in the city. During World War II, the Columbia Steel plant was built, and the population grew substantially. The annual summer celebration in the city is still called "Steel Days" in honor of the economic importance of the mill, which closed in November 2001. There are boutiques, a carnival, parade, quilt show, etc., etc., etc. The culminating event is the BIG SHOW! It's this Saturday night. Wish you were all coming with us...but it looks like it's just Stacy and Ben, Kellie and Doyle and Michael, Chris and our family so far! I'm going to buy tickets today! This is a link to the city page with information about the celebration. The concert is always fun, even if we haven't heard any of the groups before. :p We take folding chairs and blankets and sit on the grass and eat and talk and the kids run around and we all have a great time! Then after the concerts......FIREWORKS!! The city puts on an awesome fireworks display.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

I love to cook almost as much as I love to paper craft! And who doesn't LOVE those yummy Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salads and Burritos? This is a recipe I got from my sister Nancy, who got it from her sister-in-law Jamie. Everyone swears it tastes just like the real thing! Try it yourself and let me know what you think! We are having it for dinner tonight!



Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

In crockpot, put 4 lb. boneless pork roast. Add water to cover 1/2 of roast.and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Drain water and add:

1 (12 oz.) can Dr. Pepper or Coke
1 cup brown sugar
1 (10-12 oz.) bottle mild Taco Sauce
1 Tbsp. Cumin

Cook on low for an additional 3 hours. I shredded my pork before I added the other ingredients but the recipe doesn't say when to do that. Enjoy in burrito or salad.

Clear Acrylic Stamps

I have used Stampin' Up and Hero Arts and other rubber stamps for years and loved them. They have a huge selection of different designs and words. However, if you have not used clear acrylic stamps, you don't know what you are missing! Clear stamps have been becoming more and more popular in recent years mostly due to two things; affordability and ease of placement.

You generally get more stamps for the money (I guess maybe because you don't have to have a wood block mounted on each stamp...? and maybe the process of manufacturing is just less...who knows). With clear acrylic stamps, like Autumn Leaves or Heidi Swapp, you buy an acrylic block that is reusable over and over again. And clean up is simple with soapy water or clear stamp cleaner. Look at this darling Autumn Leaves clear stamp set by Rhonna Farrer called Big Swirls.
But, the biggest difference is being able to see through the stamp and place it exactly where you want it. No more re-stamping because you stamped something too close or too far away. You can see exactly where the image will end up. This is sooo handy for adding words to your scrapbook pages or handmade cards or for putting one image on top of another image (like a candle on top of a cake!).

COMPARISON OF ATG TAPES

We have had some questions from some of our customers on the differences in the tapes available for the 3M Scotch ATG 714 and ATG 700 transfer tape applicators. We carry 3 different varieties of transfer tape: ATG 908, ATG 924 and ATG 987. They are all permanent tapes and work great! The biggest differences are in the stickiness or adhesion power, and the fact that the ATG 908 gold is Acid free and therefore is desirable for scrap booking (or at least for your photos). I use the 987 or 924 for everything else and acid free only when I am applying photos just because the 908 costs more to use. The ATG 987 is a high-tack acrylic. I have learned not to press down until I have whatever I am adhering centered and in the right place. I read in a forum somewhere that someone used their embossing gun to heat up the tape and was able to remove something from a project, but I have never tried that! The bond is so strong that it can tear the paper if you try to pull it apart after pressure has been applied, but I have also been successful pulling things apart if it is soon after it has been adhered.

The ATG 924 is a little more forgiving, it is a medium-firm acrylic tape. It will come up a little easier if you happen to stick something on in the wrong place, or crooked! All three varieties go on clear and the excess is easy to rub off. The biggest reason paper crafters love these applicators and tapes is because of the affordability. They are the most economical adhesives on the market today!

Teacher or Educator?

I don't know if this is really true or not, but it's pretty funny! A certain school in Garden City, MI was recently faced with a unique problem.

A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the wash room. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. He called all the girls to the washroom and met them there with the maintenance man. He explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, he asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.
MORAL of this story: There are teachers, and then there are Educators.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Hey, everyone! Hope you had as good as a 4th of July as we did! We started a new family tradition of camping out in our backyard on the night of the 3rd. We had a fire in our little fire pit and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows. Then we did some fireworks and watched "Spiderwick Chronicles" (which is a great movie by the way!). We got to bed somewhere around 1:00 a.m. (even my 5 year old, Kelsey stayed up!). The next morning we made a big breakfast and packed up our things for a day at the local amusement park, Lagoon. Here is a picture of my favorite ride there!!

The name of the ride is Wicked and it is! It is 110 feet high at its highest point, and goes 55 mph. It was awesome!! We had a blast. We almost decided not to go to Lagoon as we thought it would be very busy, but it was a great day. Not bad lines at all and overcast most of the day (although it did get up to 102 degrees!). But, the party is over....time to get back to work!

Card Group (make and take)

This last month was actually my turn to host the make and take card group. We did two projects; the water bottle tags and the magnetic bookmarks (both blogged about below!). There were 5 of the 12 who were not there, but everyone sent cards so it was a good month for us! One of the girls in the group (Ginay)had a great idea for a "Pass it Along" Card. You put different tags into a pocket, placing the appropriate one in the front, for instance: happy birthday, happy anniversary, thank you, etc. Then you write a personal note on a separate piece of paper and stick it inside the card. The main card has a little message about passing the card along by changing the tag and the personal note inside. And there you have a re-usable greeting card! Here is the one she made for us.

Isn't that way cute? The tags are stamped front and back with a different sentiment. She is mucho creative! Here are the rest of the darling cards from the group. We use everything from cricket, Stampin' Up, quickutz, cuttle bug and many other brands. It's always so fun to get new ideas and styles of cards.

I just realized I'm missing one card! My cute daughter-in-law Kelli made a really pretty one and I gave it away already! I'm gonna have to get it from someone else and add the picture so you can see it. Way cute!

This is an especially fun group for Gina and I because one of her daughters is in the group (Ginay-mentioned above) and two of mine, Stacy and Kelli (my aforementioned d-i-l).

A "Cool" New Way with Sidewalk Chalk

My girls had some friends over today and since our pool was being cleaned and refilled they had to get creative in their playtime! Here are Kelsey and Katie making "potions" with sidewalk chalk and water.

And here is the new fangled artwork! Bright colors are so much more fun!

Toilet Seat Art?

Ok, I have seen everything now!! I was at the gym this morning, sweating away, when a toilet seat on tv caught my attention. You are not going to believe this... It was a "DIY" show (do-it-yourself) and she proceeded to show how to turn a hard-surface toilet seat into a perfectly good picture frame (?) or magnet board, or even mirror! Check this out! I can not imagine hanging this on my wall. I have done a lot of crafts in my time, but I think I'll pass on this one. Just had to share!