(NOT SO) Final Blog Hop of the VC-Rocks 2012 Season

Our final blog hop this year is upon us! But wait! There's MORE - we have another in August, lol - whew! I thought this was the last one but our Maven of Blog-hopping, Loni (last stop on the hop) just let me know that we have another one in August, so watch for that next month!!!!!!Stampin’ Up! Convention is ON and that marks the approach of our final fun and festivities! August will be here before we know it!

You probably arrived here from:

Creative Designs by Jackie ~ http://jackielwatson.blogspot.com
This blog hop is about Non-Card items. When I signed up, I was thinking, “Nanc, what ARE you thinking??? What do you do that isn’t a card?!!?” Well, I must have thought it (or would that be thunk it ;) aloud, because I was informed that I made lots of non-card things (albeit, not all Stampin’ Up! type things)...

Here is one of those things, from the annals of Nanc!
Click on the pictures for a bigger look ;)


Now this was done several years ago – it was a Mother’s Day gift for my mom (wonder what happened to that when we moved her out here with us?). I purchased the pot at a local store, and stamped it using a SU flower stamp and acrylic paint. After it dried completely, I sealed the stamped part with a spray sealer – easy-peasy.

A similar craft would be the tiles I have made a kajillion or two of.



These are a few of my favorite. Even though “Long-stemmed” is long retired. I loved these so much that after giving away or selling that set, I bought myself a new set of it off some online auction purchasing site so I could make some more of them! These were stamped with Stazon inks (the only one we now sell is the Jet Black and the White, but we previously had colors, and I still have them, use them and have added to them ).

Addendum: I've been asked my process, and since these are still gorgeous after NINE years of use, as I made them my first year as a demo, here it is!
1. Wipe tile dust off with clean shop towel (or any kind of towel you have hanging around).
2. Stamp your stamp choices on a 4x4 square to get your layout in mind, then, using Stazon Jet Black ink, stamp your tiles with your design. (Note - the Christmas trees above were stamped in a Stazon green - forest, I believe, and the leaf/square were stamped in Olive Stazon and an medium brown).
3. Color your designs. Mine are colored using an old, gnarly set of blender pens (that are no longer good for ANYTHING else!). I squish the clear cover in the Stazon pads or the lids in Brilliance ink pads to get a little puddle of ink in the lid/cover. Then I pick up the ink with the blender pen (they are each marked by color - red, orange, yellow/white, blue, green, purple) and sparingly add color where I want it.
4. Stamp your sentiment - I always do this last for some reason, but you can do it sooner if you like. It is your tile, and I am NOT the Stampin police ;).
5. THEN, I bake them in a 350* oven for 30 minutes, and place in a child free zone to cool when done.
6. When completely cool, I mask the non-stamped areas and lightly spray my stamping with a Matte Sealer from that craft store that closes on Sunday (which I love - both the goods and the ethics they have!).
7. Finish it off by adhering a 4x4 ish (mine are about 3 3/4 or so square) piece of cork on the bottom. That same store has them pre-cut or you can buy a roll of cork (more cost effective) and cut them with your tabletop cutter  (no lie!).
8. When selling in craft fairs I stack four together and tie with rough twine and use the tag punch to cut out the price and tie in with the twine. I cross the twine on the bottom and tie a knot in it on the top so folks can pick it up by that knot.
If that isn't clearer than mud, you know where to find me - comment or email me your question :)
(The only set of tiles I've ever done this way that faded were given to the mother of a stamper after she made them in class, and the mother left them out on the patio in high summer, high in the mountains of Colorado... mine have been kept in sunny places with no discernible fading, but just be warned. If you keep them outside, cover them or turn them over, or the ink may bleach out :).

Whew!

A more contemporary product that I am so glad I made for a friend was this envelope album. It took very little time to make – in fact, it took longer to get her wedding pictures than it did to make and embellish this with a Simply Scrappin’ kit.


This is viewed from over the top, lol – so it’s kind of upside down…. but you get the gist of it! This is a really fun project! (The instructions are way too lengthy to put here, so if you want them, request it, and that will be a follow-up blog post :).

My very most favorite non-card thing to make, though, is….

can you guess….?

If you know me, you know that my favorite thing to craft is…

SCRAPBOOK PAGES and SKETCHES!!!!!!

Like this:


and this:


and sketches like this one, which is perfect for (dare I say it) the First Day of school!:



Sorry for saying the “s” word… you know…. (escuela). Anyway, the tree was handcut by me and stamped with the woodgrain stamp. Of course, now I would emboss it with the new woodgrain folder that we are getting on page 33 of the Holiday Catalog...just sayin'

For more great non-card projects, please head on over to:
www.loniholt.blogspot.com

And for the complete list, just in case you started somewhere other than the beginning (a very good place to start):
StartVC Rocks (Michelle McCarthy)    www.vcrocks.blogspot.com
1   Technostamper   http://technostamper.blogspot.com
2   The Love of Stamping   http://www.theloveofstamping.com
3   June's Creations   http://junescreations.blogspot.com
4   Stamp With Jane   www.stampwithjane.com
5   Krafting with Karen   www.kraftingwithkaren.blogspot.com
6   Pedstamper's Stamping Tree House   www.pedstamperstampingtreehouse.blogspot.com
7   Life with a Wiener Dog   www.lifewithawienerdog.com
8   My Little Patch of Dirt   www.mylittlepatchofdirt.blogspot.com
9   Something To Scrap About   http://somethingtoscrapabout.blogspot.com
10  Elizabeth's Stamp Room   http://www.elizabethsstamproom.blogspot.com/
11   Artful Imagination    http://artfulimagination.blogspot.com
12   Stamper Shirley    http://stampershirley.blogspot.com
13   Brenda's Stamping Corner http://brendasstampingcorner.blogspot.com
14   Creative Designs by Jackie     http://jackielwatson.blogspot.com
>>>>>YOU ARE HERE: 15  Scrapbook Kits and more    http://fancynancykay.blogspot.com/
>>>>>>>NEXT STOP: 
17   Loni's Life    www.loniholt.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed my non-card trip down memory lane!

VC ROCKS - BLOG HOP #4 - Last one for 2010!

VC-Rocks has been a real blast this year, and I'll be sad to see it end for another year! For those who don't know, VC-R is a virtual celebration of Stampin' Up! for demonstrators and non-demonstrators alike. This is our fourth and final blog hop for this year, and as we get set to say "see you next year", I'd remind my VC-R pals that are demos to check out SUDEMOSONLY yahoo group, and non-demos and demos alike to sneak a peak at Stampin-UpI yahoo group. There are many great groups out there, but these just happen to be ones that I moderate or own.

Also, please feel free to browse my blog to find other fun things and leave comments - those are always welcome!

If you are following the blog hop, you should have landed here from LORI PALMER'S BLOG.

Here is my offering for the last blog hop of this year from VC-R - a scrapbook layout showcasing the owl punch - item 118074 and some new cool designer paper - PlayDate - item 117168. (Link to my website for ordering in the sidebar :)

(The white papers are placeholders for photos...)
To find the blog hop beginning, click on this: VC-ROCKS BLOG and to move on to the next stop in the blog hop, go HERE to Stace's Blog.

Astros and Camera cords and tutorials, oh my

You know, if you've read my blog at all, I am a die-hard Astros fan.... Since well, forever, you'd *have* to be a fan to keep watching them, lol. Case in point - tonight's game - ahead 6-1 - looking good, eh? Yeah, and then we lose it 14 to 7.... ah, well - got to see young Chris Johnson add another homer to his list, and Carlos Lee get his 1900th career hit - wow! All this is still a great experience for these young players, though - Pence, Castro, Johnson, to name 3 :) ... even when we lose the game.

As for losing things... among the lost is my Kodak camera dock... and along with it, all the cords that fit my camera to recharge it... I know it's in a really safe place, because, after all *I* packed it - yes, ME - I DID IT, lol!!!!!! My SIL says he has one that will fit, so I just have to connect with them to be able to charge it back up and download the tutorial I snapped the other day... I'd tell you what the tutorial was about, but honestly, I so do not remember, lol!!!!!

Wait - got it - it's a little tutorial on ...darn, lost it again!

Guess you'll have to tune in on Thursday and see if I remembered that I did a little tutorial on ...

VC-Rocks Blog Hop - the fun begins again NOW!

I am so excited to once again be part of the VC-Rocks Blog Hop! There is a great line-up of ladies participating in this hop, so if you are one of my followers and started here, please, continue on with the next hopper and go through the whole group to see the great ideas presented by these stampers! Or, you can go to the VC-Rocks blog and start there and work your way through the list.

If you have already been working the list, you may have landed here from Artful Imagination, the blog of Kym Schwinkendorf.

Here is my share - two takes on one card, using French Filigree and Friends Never Fade. Although I do not have a picture of the inside, I used sentiments from Messages for Mom - and all of these sets may be purchased through my SU website (just click on SHOP NOW when you get there)!

The first sample is made using a color combination suggested by the Color Coach - Rich Razzleberry (textured CS and ink), Pretty in Pink (CS and ribbon) and Early Espresso (ink, stamped on Soft Suede). The sketch was loosely based on the King of the Grill sample in the Summer Mini Catalog. I decided to have a little fun with the ribbon and wrapped it twice before knotting it in a simple knot.

This second sample is the same card - but I used Old Olive (ink and CS), Pumpkin Pie (ink and CS) and Daffodil Delight (ribbon and CS)! I just love this new color, AND the new skinny taffeta ribbon - isn't it fun?

OK, you've probably been here long enough! Jump on over to Donna Rogers' blog: High Altitude Creations and see what she has cooked up for you!

Thanks for stopping by! And be sure and come back for more goodies as I finish unpacking and settling into my temporary home while our house is being built!

VC-Rocks Blog Hop - the fun begins NOW!

Welcome to the VC-Rocks Blog Hop. If you are joining part-way thru the hop , the starting point is VCRocks Home - www.vcrocks.blogspot.com, however, you may see the links below for the next one after mine and continue at your leisure. You may have landed here from Carolyn Sharkas's blog at www.inkingthenightaway.blogspot.com. At any rate, WELCOME! Look for the next blog link after my project. While you're here, please follow my blog for future fun project ideas!

I created this scrapbook layout for my Stamp Club for June. It is a 2 page, 12x12 layout. We used the Frost White Shimmer paint (sponged onto the stamps), the new Fourth of July set, the Priceless stamp set and the large star punch and the retiring small star punch. The pattern paper is the new Presto Patterns and the retiring Bride specialty pattern paper. We sponged Night of Navy ink on the Presto patterns cross grid strips and Real Red on the Bride Specialty stripe strips.



For more fun stuff, continue to the next blog on the hop: Alexandria's ReadyCraftCreate

Watch for our next Blog Hop : July 17/18

Blog Hop this weekend!

Just a heads up to be watching for a great blog hop by some of the ladies of VC-Rocks! VC-Rocks, in case you've never heard of it, is a group of SU aficionados who mostly do not get to go to convention for one reason or other, so we have a Virtual Convention (the VC in VC-Rocks). The group has evolved a bit over the years, but is always GREAT FUN!

Please check back this weekend and see the special goodies being shared - you may start on my blog and continue through the cycle. We have some extremely talented ladies in the group, and I'm honored to be included in the blog hop!

Thanks for stopping by!

VC ROCKS BLOG HOP!

VC really does rock! In honor of our first 10th Anniversary Blog Hop (there will be more blog hops this convention season), we are celebrating retiring colors or Summer Mini products...If you don't know about VC Rocks - VC stands for Virtual Convention - and celebrates the advent of the New Stampin' Up Catalog each year for those of us who cannot make the annual trek to see the awesomeness unveiled in person... of course, I'll be celebrating the new catalog a little early, personally, as mine will be mailed on MONDAY next for taking part in the new Recruit Crew program and getting a new recruit in March! However, since I can't go to Convention in SLC in July (we'll be unpacking from a move), I am excited to be back at VC because VC Rocks!

Now, if you've been following the blog hop, you should have arrived here from the blog of Tammy Howell, aka Tarheel Stamper - HERE. If you came upon this accidentally, please feel free to continue on the hop... and before you leave - your comments are WELCOME!

My post celebrates some Summer Mini products: Smooch Spritz, Clear mount stamp sets Elements of Style and Sentimental Journey, and the ever-so-awesome Presto Patterns Designer paper! Other products used include the Big Shot LATTICE die, oval, oval scallop, 1 inch round, word window and modern label punches, vintage brads, vanilla taffeta ribbon and chocolate chip cardstock and ink.

I *definitely* advise the purchase of the Color Catcher to use with the Smooch Spritz, although I did discover that when you Smooch Spritz your work table and Gazelle, Stampin' Mist goes a long way toward cleaning it all up and removing the evidence, lol!!!!

Continue hopping on our VCRocks Blog Hop to Loni Holt's Blog HERE.

Thanks for stopping by - Please come back and visit and see what else I have here :)