Joy's Life DT May Blog Hop Super & Everyday Heros

Hello! Welcome to the May Hop with Joy's Life Design Team! This month our theme is Super and/or Everyday Heroes and we are using Joy's new set "My Hero"! You should have come from Kendra's Blog but if not, start back at Joy's Blog so you get to see all of our projects!

I did a couple of cards for my project...1st a card using one of the My Hero stamps in a different way...that's the great thing about Joy's stamps, they can be used in so many different ways!

I needed to make some graduation cards for next month so I used "Totally Awesome" as my sentiment!

Super simple and super cute! 

Stamps: My Hero (Joy's Life)

Other: Chevron Embossing Folder (SU), Square Nestabilities, Mini Candi, twine

And since this is a hero blog hop, I thought I would do a quick tag for a thank you!

Stamps: "Thank you for your service" My Hero (Joy's Life)
Other: Dylusions Spray (London Blue & Cherry Pie), Stickles (Christmas Red, True Blue & Distress Stickles Picket Fence) Star Punch

***BLOG CANDY***
For a chance to win the Stickles that I used in my tag today, leave a comment with your email address & be sure to be a follower! For some extra chances, come back tomorrow & Monday to see my newest projects & leave a comment there too! I will total all comments from today, Sunday & Monday to pick my winner!

Thanks for stopping by and now you will go to Lori's Blog for some more fantastic projects! :)

Joy: http://joyslife.com    

Cyndy: http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com

Dawn: http://dawnmercedes.blogspot.com

Jennifer:  http://creativecricutdesigns.blogspot.com

Julie: http://muddypawsinkyfingers.blogspot.com

Kendra: http://luv2scrapnmakecards.blogspot.com

Laura: http://www.laurascraftsandmore.com

Lori: http://got2bcrafting.blogspot.com

Maria: http://asimplefive.blogspot.com  

Megan: http://thoughtsoftraveling.blogspot.com

Stacey H: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com

Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥

Stamps of Life: List2write

Well I have to say, I have really enjoyed getting back into blogging more and working with more of my craft stuff! So this is Week 3 of My Challenge to Me and I have been keeping up with my crafting & posting! Yay! 

This week I made Travis' graduation announcements but they just went in the mail yesterday, so I will wait a couple of days before I post them here! 

But today I have my Stamps of Life post, I used List2write to make a tag that can be used for just about any occasion! 

I left it blank and when I am ready to use it, I can write in anything that fits the occasion! I think it would be good to make a few more of these in different colors and have them on hand, ready to give out! Hmm...guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow! :) 

Stamps: Stamps of Life: List2write
Ink: Broken China, Salty Ocean, Black Soot & Versafine Black Onyx
Other: Waterfall Stickles, Chevron embossing folder (SU)

Also this week I was going to post the project we are doing for my Stamp Club...well we had to postpone that meeting until this Sunday, so I can't post the pics yet!! Grrr!! I am TOTALLY in love with the projects we are doing! I can't wait for them to see it!! :) :) And I can't wait to show them off here!! 

Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥

Distress Ink Storage

Ok, I may have found the perfect (for me anyway!!) Tim Holtz Distress Ink storage! Since I now have my marker storage, I wanted to try & find something for my DI....the one thing (besides cardstock & 12x12...is anyone EVER happy with that storage?) that I am not happy with the storage I had...which was just a 3 drawer container. So off to JoAnn's I went today! And here is what I found...

LOOK!! Perfection!! For now at least! LOL! This was $12.99 at JoAnn's and of course I used my 40% coupon! I knew I didn't want a table top organizer..I am running out of room up there! So this is all of the ink pads (including all seasonal) minus 4. So what I did was take the 4 I use the most (Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain & Gathered Twigs) and put those on my table with my markers. Since I always reach for those anyway, it works out perfect!

So now I am going to do some crafting tonight, to see how all this new storage works in use! You know how it is, it looks great, sounds great but then it isn't easy to get to, or just doesn't work well in use....so we shall see!

Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥

New Marker Storage!!

Sometimes I think I organize more than I craft! But when you find something that will (hopefully) make your craft room easier and nicer to look at, why not try it?? So Saturday I was talking to my friend Tammy and we were talking about crafty things we got for Mother's Day. She told me about this marker storage from Recollections that she got. So, since I did not get anything crafty for Mother's Day...I went out right then and bought me TWO!! :) And last night I got them put together! I put the 1st one together, then decided to time it to see how long it took to put the 2nd one together. From opening the box, then putting it together the "old fashioned" way (my drill died right after I finished the 1st one , and I found out you can NOT charge it & use it at the same time!! Obviously a man came up with that.....a woman would make it work either way so you can actually finish the job!! Lol!!) to the very last piece put in, it took me exactly 30 minutes! So, I figure it was about the same on the 1st one because I had read the directions...2nd time I didn't have to actually read them, just looked at the pics to remember what to do!

Here are all the pieces....

And this I absolutely LOVE!  All the hardware is individually wrapped AND numbered!! AWESOME!!

Here it is finished...

And here they are filled!! LOVE them!!

In the picture in the link above it has one drawer at the bottom...mine have two...not sure which I would like better? What I do like is you can pull out the marker bin and either leave it on your table and have another shelf for storage, or move it back & forth between the unit and your table.

Notice those CD containers to the right of the marker storage? I got those last week HERE and love them too! Stickles, Perfect Pearls, Alcohol Inks, etc fit in there perfectly! One of them that I got, the holes weren't cut right so the Stickles didn't fit, I emailed them and they are sending me out a new one free of charge and I get to keep the one that is wrong....BUT I found I could fit me Smooch Sprays in there! Yay!! So now I'm waiting for the new one to come in so I can fill it with me Alcohol Inks!

So a HUGE thank you to Tammy for even telling me about this and a HUGE thank you to Hubby...even though he has NO idea he bought them for me! :)

I'll be back tomorrow with a crafty post, so stay tuned!

Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥

Store Samples

Hello! Today I am going to show some more of the samples I have been making for the store I work at, Stamp Antonio Arts. If any of you are ever in San Antonio, be sure to come check us out! We are the only LSS that has rubber stamps, mixed media & much more! 

Here is a card I made using some 12x12 paper from S.E.I. 

Here is a pic of the paper before I cut out some of the flowers...

I used the backside of this paper for my back ground, cut out some of the flowers and used pop-dots to pop them up! Super simple card! (And BTW, I made this sample and within a week, the paper has sold out! Yay me! My boss told me I need to get busy on more samples!) 

Paper: S.E.I. Sunny Day; Summer Bouquet
Ink: Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs
Stamps: Paper Wings Productions (PWP)- Sayings & Sentiments
Other: Stickles-Stardust 

And here is a comp book I made as a sample for the store:

And a close-up of the stamp and Pearl Pen used...

Isn't this the coolest paper? I knew I wanted to use it as soon as I got it out of the box! I love making comp books and this one is really simple! I used cardstock as a band to "break up" the pattern and have a space to stamp my words! Viva Decor Pearl Pens were the perfect accent with out being too blingy! 

Paper: S.E.I. Desert Springs; Bright Angel Trail
Stamps: Paper Wings Productions (PWP)- Sayings & Sentiments
Other: Viva Decor Pearl Pen- Yellow & Lt Green
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Black Soot


I will be back soon with more samples and this weekend I have my Stamp Club and can't wait to show off our project for the month! SOOO excited! :) :) 

Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥

Stamps of Life Mums2Stamp

Well this is Week 2 of my "Challenge to Me" and so far, so good! Although I wanted to post this yesterday but right before I came in to schedule my post, I started getting a migraine & then had to just call it a night and go to bed! I don't get them often but when I do, UGH!! I can always tell when they are coming on though, so that's kind of nice. I immediately take Advil & drink some soda, then go lay down and usually it helps!

Anyway, here is my card for today....I made it last week for my Mom for Mother's Day. I wanted something purple, simple & pretty....I think I achieved that! :)

I really like how it turned out! For the "Pearls" I used a Viva Decor Pearl Pen...I love these! Like Stickles but Pearls! :)

Stamps: Stamps of Life- Mums2Stamp, Inky Antics-Swirly Butterflies "Happy Mother's Day",
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks- Milled Lavender, VersaFine Black
Other: SU oval frame embossing folder, Viva Decor Pearl Pen- Lilac

If you would like to read more about my Challenge to Me, click HERE! I would love to have you join me in the challenge...leave me a link to your blog in the comment section so I can go check it out! :)
Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥

Graduation Banner-Joy's Life DT

Hello! This week over at Joy's Life, the DT are making some great Home Decor projects to show you! And since we are in full Graduation mode over here, I made 2 banners to decorate the table for my sons Graduation! I can NOT believe he is graduating from HS! I'm sure over the next few weeks, I will posting stories & pics of him...He will be leaving for college in Aug and I am so sad to see him go, but I know he will do amazing things in life and this college education is something he has been looking forward to for years!! I am just SO proud of him!! 

Anyway, back to the project! I used 3 different sets from Joy's stamps...I will list them above each of the pictures....here are the full banners...I cut them on my Cricut using Birthday Bash and cut at 4" (these are small, I want them for the centerpieces...) 

And here are the close-ups and the stamp sets I used....

"Congratulations" & You Can Do Anything" are from Mother/Daughter

"Graduation" is from Everyday Occasions...

And finally, "You Rock" from Father/Son

Since I would assume my SON doesn't want a bunch of blingy, glittery graduation stuff (LOL!!) I didn't do too much embellishing....just used glitter paper on the number shadows to sparkle a bit! The numbers were cut out at 2.5" using Birthday Bash as well! 

I was really happy how they turned out! Now to decide what else I can make for decorations! :) 

Be sure to stop by the rest of the DT to see the fabulous projects this week!

And to see ALL of Joy's amazing stamp sets and to see her awesome bundle prices click HERE! 

Until next time... ♥ Laura ♥