Embellished Expressions by Elaine

Gabby's card

2008-07-23T15:48:00.011-04:00

Wow! It's been a wild few months. We moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania since I last updated. We are getting settled and I finally had some time to blog! All of my crafting supplies are still packed so I am not going to be able to stamp for a while. I don't think I want to tackle unpacking those boxes until my kids are back in school. I've got a lot of reorganizing to do!

I found a photo of a birthday card I made for a dear friend's daughter. She is such a carefree little girl with a smile that just melts your heart. She has an amazing joy in her even though she's been through so much. If you want to read her story, see her Caring Bridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=gabriellewysocki
I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said "Elmo!" I wanted her card to be bright and happy just like her so I used the yellow from TAC's Brighten My Day paper pack for the background. I layered it onto red and blue cardstock and stamped her name with TAC's Classic Alphabet.
For the face, I punched some red cardstock with the circle scallop punch and cut a strip out of the center to make it the right shape. (You could use the oval scallop punch to make this much easier.) Then I punched a scrap of black cardstock with the scallop punch and cut it to make the mouth. Then comes the fun part. I used my red flock to make the face fuzzy! The nose was some scrap fiber I had. I added googly eyes and there was Elmo! It was a fun card to make.
The items used to make this card can be found on my TAC website under the Products tab.
I hope you like this playful card and if you wouldn't mind, please say a prayer for Gabrielle and her family.
Thanks and Blessings,
Elaine

Simple Card

2008-05-09T19:06:00.007-04:00

I took a break from working on my house to make this card for my extraordinary Mother and thought I would share it with you. I just love this horse set!

This was a very simple card- most of my cards are very simple but that doesn't mean it doesn't take me hours to create. I actually enjoy the process and usually change my idea for a card 1 or 2 or 9 times before I'm through. Then I look at it and I wonder "how in the world did I spend 2 hours down the basement making this card?" Anyway, I really enjoy playing and trying different things and using my new toys. I used my Crop-o-dile and deckle scissors and that's about it for this one. To make the brown rectangle look distressed, I just rubbed my Burnt Sienna Palette pad all over it. The saying came from TAC's "Bookoo Blessings" set. Now you can go make this card and it will take you 10 minutes! Have fun!

Spring Flowers

2008-04-09T16:09:00.018-04:00

Spring is finally here in Ohio!
I hope my fellow Buckeyes
have gotten to spend some time outside
enjoying the weather. The daffodils are out and they are just beautiful.
Here is a picture I took in my yard yesterday.

Today was a little cloudy and sprinkling in the morning so I thought I'd do some stamping! I decided on a card because I wanted to try out my new Scor-Pal. I found a piece of vellum in my scraps and thought it would be fun to play with. I scored the edges and diagonals with the Scor-Pal. It was so easy! Then I stamped the flower from "A God Thing" on top with my New Canvas and Raw Sienna Palette pads. I wanted it to be simple and elegant but I though it needed something so I added some balled up fiber to the center of the flower and some cut ribbon to the leaves. Now it's more cutesy than elegant but I like it better. The greeting from the "Be Still" set was stamped with my Jardin Moss Palette pad.

I'm excited to try some more projects with my Scor-Pal. Go to Scor-Pal's site to see all the fun things you can do with it.
http://www.scor-pal.com/projects.htm om/projects.htm
Contact me to see how you can get it for half price!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, flowerful spring!!! Thanks for visiting!

Check out TAC's Spring Special!

2008-03-01T19:48:00.007-05:00

Celebrate spring like never before and treat yourself to a double helping of hostess rewards! Between March 1 - April 30, grab a few friends, have a great time laughing and sharing, learn a new project idea, and enjoy all the benefits times two!

2008-02-22T17:04:00.010-05:00

Hello again. I finally found some time to stamp! It's been crazy at my house. We are trying to sell our home and I've been busy cleaning and packing. I had some stamps from last month that I hadn't even cut! If you know me, you know that is very rare. I like to cut them as soon as they arrive so I can play with them! Well, I finally got them cut and I wanted to make a scrapbook page with my new "Starburst Flowers" set. (pictured below) I bought them because they reminded me of Dandelions.

Don't you just love Dandelions? I know men hate them because they "mess" up their yard but I love my yard when it's dotted with yellow. Then the white dots come and the kids blow the seeds and make more yellow! How can you not love Dandelions? They are so easy for kids to pick and SO abundant. Especially in my yard. No one would mistake our yard for a golf course, that's for sure.

I do have one thing I don't like about Dandelions. They always manage to find my garden. I don't mind them in the yard as long as they stay in the grassy part. lol

The scrapbook page was created from a very simple layout I'd seen before. For the circles, I used a Coluzzle with nested circle and large nested circle. The Coluzzle is one of my oldest scrapbooking tools. I really love it. It takes the guesswork out of cutting circles or any shape for that matter. You just place the clear template over what you want to cut and run the special knife through the channel. It works great.

The stamp sets I used on the page are Starburst Florals, Little Things, Punctuation (for the journaling lines), Spring Dream, Flourishes and Simple Bet. See the "Products" tab on my TAC website for these and more of my favorite products.

http://elaine.ismyangel.net/Products/Default.aspx

Thanks for visiting!!!

Scalloped Valentine

2008-01-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

I just got my order in from the new TAC catalog and had to play with my new toys. This is the 3" Giga Scallop Circle Punch.

It is so easy to use. I don't have any really nice punches like this. It is the first one I've gotten from TAC. The other ones I have take a lot of pressure to go through the cardstock and don't leave a very clean edge but this one is NICE. It works great!

Here is a card using TAC's "Friendly Note", "Wishing You", and "Running Stitches" sets and cardstock from the "Pop Rocks" collection.

I wanted to show you a fun way to add extra sparkle to your images. Here is a close up of the hearts.

To get this effect, color your image with Watercolor Pencils and use a Versamarker to blend. Be very careful to stay inside the lines when you're blending! Then before your Versamark has dried, you add some Sparkle Embossing Powder and heat it as usual. For the vase, I just used Transcendence Embossing Powder (you could use any clear EP) to make it look shiny like water.

Look under the "Products" tab on my TAC website for the items used to make this Valentine card.

http://elaine.ismyangel.net/Products/Default.aspx

Faith tag album

2008-01-07T15:33:00.000-05:00

Faithbooking is such a blessing. I like it because it gives my scrapbooks a higher purpose. I can tell people about my faith and what God has done for me by just showing them my scrapbooks! What a simple way to witness! Most of my pages are just regular pages of my kids with a relevant Bible verse added somewhere. You can journal prayers or blessings to a page also. It is a way you can spend time with God while you're creating.
Boy, I was excited when I saw all the new faithbooking word stamps in TAC's new catalog. They reminded me of a project I did a while back. I had some beautiful nature photos that I wanted to faithbook. I thought I'd try a tag album. I used TAC's Sands of Time cardstock for the tags and I printed the Bible verses to go along with the photos with my computer. Although I personally like searching the Bible for the perfect verse, TAC has made projects like these a lot easier by offering sets with Bible verses and other great quotes. One of my favorites is called "Be Still". Here are some more word sets to use in your faithbook. "Faithbooking", "Nurture Your Soul", "Heavenly Father" and "My Spiritual Journey". Use these to inspire you to create faithbook pages or make a card to inspire someone else. Go to my TAC website and look under "products" to see these sets. http://elaine.ismyangel.net/
Thanks for visiting!

TAC's Inspiration Book

2007-12-28T15:02:00.000-05:00

TAC's new Inspiration Book and Catalog is out!!! There are lots of great new papers, stamps, albums, tools and accessories but even more exciting are the samples inside. There are gobs of cards, scrapbook pages and other papercrafting projects to inspire you. Contact me to get a copy or order online on my TAC website after January 2nd.
http://elaine.ismyangel.net/

Here is a quote from TAC. "At the Angel Company, we delight in providing quality products with a meaningful message. We want to give you words for your feelings, images for any occasion and design elements to add just the right finishing touch to any project. It is, after all, the work of your heart. What could be more important than that?"

Memory Purse

2007-12-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

Do you like my new purse? I know I've told a lot of you that I'd post photos of my Memory Purse. I finally had some time to do it! I have one of my precious boys on each side. My husband keeps asking me where I'm going to put his photo. I told him that there are a few photos of him in our wedding album. Don't you think that's good enough? He's a handsome guy and all but not the most photogenic. He HATES getting his picture taken. He does those fake smiles like your 4 year old kid does. He looks like he's being tortured in every photo. His mouth is smiling but you can see the pain in his eyes. He just had to marry a photographer. Ironic isn't it.

Anyway, the Memory Purse comes plain and ready for you to decorate. Just make two 8x10 horizontal scrapbook layouts and insert them into the sides of the purse. You can change them for every season or occasion or you can even change them to match your outfit! They are really cool and I guarantee you'll get lots of compliments on yours.

For mine, I just did a simple layout using TAC's Hemingway collection. The cardstock and the matching tags come together in a pack. Check out my TAC website for the Hemingway and other beautiful cardstock collections.

http://elaine.ismyangel.net/Products/Default.aspx?cid=164&pid=162

Here is the link for the purses.

http://elaine.ismyangel.net/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?prodid=2516&cid=122&pid=110

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas Blessings

2007-12-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:10-14

Praise God for the most wonderful gift! JESUS!

I hope everyone has a very, merry Christmas!!!

Coaster frames

2007-11-28T14:03:00.000-05:00

Homemade gifts are fun to give and to get!

This is a cute way to display your favorite photos and would be a nice gift also. They are very easy to make. Just take 2 coasters and cover them with your favorite cardstock. I used TAC's "Uptown Girl" and "Hip-Hop" collections to make mine. Gently sand the edges with a sanding block to make the cardstock nice and flush with the coaster. Punch holes in the coasters with a Crop-a-dile, add hinges with eyelets or brads and embellish as desired!

The Crop-a-dile is one of my favorite papercrafting toys. I use it to punch through just about anything, even metal! It silently sets any size eyelet or snap with ease. Host a FunShop and you can get one for half price!

Christmas Explosion Box Album

2007-11-28T13:40:00.000-05:00

Here is a photo of my Christmas themed box. I used TAC's gorgeous

"Amelia Collection" cardstock. To decorate I used these TAC stamp sets: Punctuation, Simply Christmas, Whimsical Greetings and Christmas Season. Now, I just need to add my photos! I just love these!

Now you try one and let me know how it turns out!

Explosion Box

2007-11-15T16:38:00.000-05:00

Here is a cute idea for the special people on your Christmas list this year. It is called an explosion box. It is a cute box on the outside and when you remove the lid, it explodes into an album! Decorate it with special photos and give it to Grandma! There are 21 places to add photos or journal. You can even put a gift inside. These are easy to make and can be personalized for every occasion. This is a girly one I made with TAC's "Pop Rockz" paper. The stamps I used on the inside were "Circle Sampler" and "Punctuation" from TAC. The "P is for Princess" is a Gift With Purchase stamp. These are really fun to make. Here's how!

Start with 4 - 12x12 sheets of cardstock.

1. The first 12x12 sheet will be your outside of the box. Score 4" from each side to create 9 equal squares.

2. Trim the 2nd sheet to a 11 5/8" square. Score it 3 7/8" from each side.

3. Trim the 3rd sheet to a 11 1/4" square. Score it 3 3/4" from each side.

4. The forth sheet will be the lid. Trim it to 8x8". Score it 1 15/16" from each side and set aside.

5. Cut out the corner squares from the 1st 3 sheets.

6. Fold the cardstock up at the score lines.

7. Decorate the pages now or you can do that later if you prefer. * **

8. Adhere the sheets together by putting permanent adhesive in the center squares only.

9. To make the lid you will need to cut along every other score line to make flaps. The easiest way to do this is hold your paper up, look at the score line on the right and cut it just to where the score lines cross. Then rotate your paper and do the same on all sides.

10. Fold at the score lines and adhere the flap you created to the inside of the lid.

11. Embellish and Enjoy!!!

*I use the scraps from cutting off the corners of the cardstock to decorate the inside.

**Make sure if you decorate before you assemble that you don't put anything over the score lines (which will make it difficult to fold) or in the center of the middle sheets (which will not show.)

God Bless You, Veterans

2007-11-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

To all the Veterans and their families, we love and appreciate all you do and have done for us. Words cannot express the pride and gratefulness we feel towards you. May God bless, comfort and strengthen you. Know that you are in our prayers. Happy Veterans Day.

So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. 2Corinthians 4:18

My favorite photos

2007-11-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

I just love photography. I take so many photos, it's ridiculous. I love to photograph nature and the beauty I see in God's creation. I thought it a shame that I have so many photos that I've taken that no one sees but me, so I decided to share one a week on my blog. Here is one that I took at Inniswoods Metro Gardens in Westerville, Ohio. Click on it to see the little buggy up close and personal. Cool huh. I hope you like it!

Unique Gifts

2007-11-06T19:39:00.000-05:00

Whew, I finally have some time to post now that the Home Expo is over. Thanks to all of you who visited our table. I had a lot of fun making things for the event. These events always push me to create new things and I always have so much fun when people actually want to buy my stuff! It's so cool! Now I have to make some more things to replace what I sold to give as gifts this Christmas. I'll show you one of my big sellers. It is a hot chocolate kit made out of Starbucks Frappachino bottles. I gave these to my kid's teachers last year for Christmas. This kit is made from TAC's new Christmas set "Simply Christmas".

Here is a single Frappachino bottle with mints. I give these to neighbors and people like the mailman and UPS guy. The tree is also from the "Simply Christmas" set. I just love that set!!! These are fun gifts and very easy to make! Try using TAC's gorgeous papers and stamps to alter something into a unique and thoughtful homemade gift!

Here is the photo I promised you of the candles I made with the "Ornamental Snowflakes" set. The border on top and bottom is from TAC's Hostess set "Partridge". I think they turned out cute. You probably can't see the Stickles on the flakes but they add a sparkle that really catches your eye. I know what you're thinking "Stickles AGAIN". There are Red Stickles on the reindeer's nose above and also on the Christmas tree. I can't help it! I like Stickles.

Remember, in November with any $20 order, when you buy 2 Stickles, you will get one free! See page 123 of the TAC Fall/Winter 2007 Idea Book and Catalog for your color choices or go to my TAC website under Products, Embellishments, then Other. Call or email me with your order to get the special.

Thanks for checking out my blog and have a blessed day!

Snowflakes

2007-11-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

Hello all! I hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather. It's wonderful here in Ohio. Sunny with the most interesting clouds against the bright blue sky and the fall colored leaves blowing through in the wind. Ahhhh. I love this time of year! I really don't want to think about the cold winter coming but I saw these gorgeous snowflakes in the TAC Fall Supplement and had to have them! I love snowflakes falling almost as much as leaves. Snow makes the long winters bearable. Just thinking about it makes me want to get my blanket out and curl up with some hot chocolate. Hopefully though, we still have a while to enjoy fall before the snowflakes come. But I just had to play with my new snowflake stamps.

This is what I came up with. It is a card made from clear acetate and the "Ornamental Snowflakes". I had seen cards similar to this and thought I'd try my version of it. What do you think?

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If any of you are into snowflakes like me, come to my Snowflake class. We will be making this card to go with a candle which we will stamp snowflakes on as well. This will be a great gift for someone special on your list! I will post a photo of the candle soon. The class will be held Sunday, November 18th at my house in Granville at 3pm. The cost will be $10 per person. You must call to reserve your space. Classes are limited to 8 people with a minimum of 3. It will be a great time for a "girls night out" before Thanksgiving. I hope to see you there!

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Here are the Ornamental Snowflakes. The set is $15.95. Check out The Angel Company's website to see samples using this set and the other fun stamps in the Fall Supplement.

Red and Green are great, but...

2007-10-20T20:37:00.000-04:00

Christmas cards already?!? I know it's a little early but have you been shopping lately? The Christmas trees are up and decorated! I got my Hallmark brochure in the mail yesterday with all the ornaments on it along with about 8 toy catalogs. Christmas is 2 months away!

I'm trying out all my Christmas stamps and papers looking for the perfect design for my homemade cards this year.

I had to show you this card I made with my new TAC stamp set "Christmas Season" and my favorite paper "Hemingway". I love the colors! I wanted to challenge you to use different colors for your Christmas cards. Red and green are beautiful but don't limit yourself to only using them. Experiment using blues, pinks, purples, etc. and see what you can come up with. Use your imagination and have fun!

I used the Hemingway coordinating cardstock and ribbon, Prismacolor H20 Pencils, a Dove blender and Gold Stickles to make the card above. The Stickles really add a special touch although you can't really see them in the photo. Stickles are a lot of fun!

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I'm having a special from now until the end of November. With any $20 order, when you buy 2 Stickles of any color, you will get another one FREE!

There are 14 different colors to choose from.

Just email me or call with your order to be eligible for this special.

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Here's another card using our "Holiday Greetings" stamp set. For this card I started with cream cardstock and added the pink ink with a wedge shaped makeup sponge. I embossed the tree with Gold embossing powder and used a Gold Leafing Pen around the edges. The presents are stamped with a Burnt Umber Palette pad. Very simple and chic.

I hope you take me up on the challenge and try some unusual color combinations for Christmas. Let me know how it goes.

In the next week, I will post my classes for the upcoming months so keep checking back here. Thanks for visiting!

Fall Leaves

2007-10-18T12:29:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to my blog! I want to inspire you to create!

Check back here weekly for more ideas, samples, and inspiration.

I use wonderful products from The Angel Company for all my creations.

This is my youngest son. I love this photo because it is rare to see him still. He is usually so active. I used a direct-to-paper technique with the Autumn Leaves Kaleidacolor Ink Pad. It is a very simple way to get an interesting and colorful background. To create it, take some white, glossy cardstock and with the colors on the K-pad separated, just press the stamp pad down onto the cardstock. Hint: put your cardstock on the edge of your table or onto a large acrylic block to get all the colors to show up. Then use Noir Black Palette ink and your choice of stamps on top of that. IT'S SO EASY! Here are some cards using this technique.

The stamps used in
these samples are
All About a Boy, This is Me, Charcoal Leaves, Lilly Pad Pond, Don't Bug Me and Simply Put GWP- all from The Angel Company. See my website for more beautiful stamps, exclusive papers,
and scrapbooking supplies from TAC.