Mini Accordion Album

I finally got my hands on some blank coaster. I love them and I plan on making lots and lots of projects with them. Maria, Card Inspired by Maria posted an easy and adorable tutorial for coasters. It's called a Mini Accordion Album. Please click on this link for Maria's tutorial and pictures. Her work is amazing!




























ALBUM DETAILS:
Stamps from The Angel Company "Abundance Is" & "More Abundance"
Paper from Self-Addressed September '07 Kit
Palette Ink
Fancy Pants Flowers
May Arts Ribbons
Spiral Clips from TAC
Loopy Brads from TAC
Beetle Black Mono Buttons from TAC
White Eyelets
Stampers Floss from TAC

SNOW!

Yep... our Fall time weather has come upon us! We've had snow/frost every morning this week. Usually by the afternoon it's melted away. Here's the amount we woke-up to today. This looks more promising to stay. YIP-EE!!!

Stampin' Crazy

Jennifer, Stampin' Crazy has tagged me with the "Name Game". I feel so silly for not doing this earlier. So here we go:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Angel Forester
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie) Strawberry Cream Oat'n'Chip
3. YOUR FLY “GUY/GIRL” NAME: (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name) N-Gra
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Purple Swan
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Stella Cali
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name) Gra-na
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink and add” the”) The Blue Coca~Cola
8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) James Tyler
9. STRIPPER NAME: (favorite perfume, favorite candy) I just can't go there with this one.
10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s and father’s middle names) It's a big secret. If you know my witness protection name then I wouldn't be safe anymore.

Thanks Jennifer for the laughs. I am grateful for my real name... Mrs. Nancy Grant. :-)

PHOTO: That's me and my little one earlier this summer. We are both wearing more traditional Inupiaq style outfits.

For MY Honey

Yesterday was a long day for my husband. He work all day and then had class all evening. I thought that it would nice to surprise him with a card to let him know that I missed him and remind him of my love. So I put his slippers in the doorway into the house and left the card right on top. It was worth the effort because he smiled when he found my note. Not only did he smile but it put him in a happy mood. Instead of being tired and heavy from the day he was happy and light.

God bless my husband.

CARD DETAILS:
Retired SU! Stamp Set
Sentiment from The Angel Company
Blue Card Base from Self-Addressed
Scrap Papers from Basic Grey
Palette Ink
Versa Magic Chalk Inks
Misc Ribbons
Paper Clips

FLOURISHED Christmas

Here's a sneak peak at some of Flourishes new Christmas stamps for their next release. I fell instantly in love with this reindeer and the sentiments are just lovely. I can see myself making lots of different Christmas projects with these sets. There are three new designs on the way and you'll want to keep your eyes out for Flourishes next debut.


CARD DETAILS:
Stamps: "Flourished Christmas"
Blank Scalloped Card from OTC
Metallic Gold Paper
Encore Ultimate Metallic Gold Ink
Gold Embossing Powder
Thin Organdy Gold Ribbon





TAG DETAILS:
Stamps: "Flourished Christmas"
Sentiments from Flourishes "Rejoice"
Cranberry Cardstock
Basic Grey Paper
Encore Ultimate Metallic Gold Ink
Palette Ink
Prismacolor Pencils blended with Gamsol
Brown Ribbon
Large Eyelet from The Angel Company

Bright FUN

Getting to squeeze in some stamping is almost always a goal. Here's a little ditty I squeezed in yesterday before evening service. Can you find the "Thank You" sentiment? It's kind of hiding in the flowers. :-)

CARD DETAILS:
Stampendous Bee Happy Daisy
Sweet Sayings from The Angel Company
My Mind's Eye Scrapbook Paper
Assorted Bitty Blossoms from TAC
Brad
Ribbon from Self Addressed Kit
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Stickles

Desperately Seeking The "Doodle Alphabet"

A note from Nancy's husband (Andrew):

How many times have you wanted a retired stamp set but had no success in locating it? Well, I am looking for a stamp set for my wife made by Stampin' Up! called the "Doodle Alphabet."

If anyone has access to a "Doodle Alphabet" set and would like to sell it, please let me know so I can purchase it for my lovely wife. Sometimes you just have to put your requests out there and see who responds.

Thank you all,

Andrew

Beate's Weekend Challenge #20

Wow! Twenty weekends of sketches by Beate! Has it really been that many? I've completed a handful of her sketches and each one has been a fun challenge indeed. This time around I didn't quite get my first card right with her sketch so I made another one that was closer to what Beate had posted. Part of the reason I messed up is because my computer is no longer anywhere near my stamping room. This leads to me either hand drawing the sketches or print them out. Most of the time I hand draw them on a 2"x2" piece of notepad paper. I've been stashing all these tiny treasures away to make a mini sketchbook someday. Anyhow, I didn't take my sketch with me when I made the first card and I hate to admit it but my memory skipped some of the finer details. It was just as fun to make a second.

In regards to photo taking. Laurie and I are in the midst of trying to make a lighted box for taking pictures of our stamping art. So far we aren't having any luck with our labors but Laurie is determined and I know by the end of the week we will have a better studio set-up. Got any suggestions? Keep in mind that we live in a very remote area and have to do most our craft shopping online.

I look forward in reading your helpful and encouraging comments. Thank you for visiting me today! :-)

Blessed

Here's some of the blog goodies that came my way this month. I am so very thankful to be blessed by these gifts.

Angie from Stampings of the Shug sent me some blog candy for winning her Saturday Night Shuggy Snack. It was so excited that I actually knew the answer to her trivia question. :-)

Candi of Stamp Candy sent me some celebratory gifts for my TAC promotion and some blog candy too. She sure had some interesting goodies. I love the tube squeezer (a.k.a. paper crimper) and the big bright silk flowers.

Mary, Stamps-Paper-Ink--Oh My!, had a card contest that I actually won. I was so shocked to be selected because there were so many great designs in the running.

Thank you Angie, Candi, and Mary for blessing me so much.
Big SMILES,
~nancy

WORK'N

Work'n-work'n-work'n....this is my favorite kind of work... stamping!!! It's my first creation with both of Stampin' Up!'s "Totally Cool" and "Unfrogettable" sets. Shame on me for not using them sooner. Both are such fun to play with and the paper piecing with "Totally Cool" wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did her pants with a denim brown scrapbook paper. The print is too big for her tiny legs. It makes me laugh to see them but hey they match and that's what counts.

Totally Cool:
Stamping Up! Girl and background stamps
The Angel Company Sentiment
Handmade Oval Stamp
OTC Scallop Card (Base card)
DCWV Sparkles Card Stock
Denim Brown Scrapbook Paper $ Store
Palette Ink
Prismacolor Pencils blended with Gamsol
Prima Flowers
Stickles

Unfrogettable:
Stampin' UP! Stamps
Basic Grey Phoebe Papers
Blank White Card as Base Card
Palette Ink
Tombow Markers
Ribbon from Self-Address Kit
Stickles

Four TIDBITS

Shannon of Live, Love, Laugh and Stamp as well as Corie of Creations by Corie had mentioned me on their Four Tidbit Tag postings. Okay ladies heres a little more about me:

WORKED:
1) Program Assistant, School District M&O
2) Data Entry Clerk, Local Community College
3) Grant Administrator, Borough Job
4) Chick-fil-a (my very first job!)


LIVE:
1) My Home ~ Barrow, Alaska
2) Washington State
3) Anchorage, Alaska
4) Salinas, CA

VACATION:
1) New York
2) Hawaii
3) Oregon
4) California

FOODS:
1) Coca-Cola (it's consumable and my fav)
2) Maui Taco's Fish Tacos
3) Strawberries
4) Frozen Watermelon

RATHER BE:
1) Sleeping
2) Carding/Stamping
3) On a date with my Husband
4) Visiting with my Family

FOUR FRIENDS LIKELY TO RESPOND:
1) Laurie (Stamping for God's Glory)
2) Stacy Smith (Arctic Spring)
3) Inger Mac Rae (Arctic Goose)
4) Annie Patterson (Imagine & Create)
Note: These are all local Barrow Gals that I know!

PHOTO:
Andrew took this snapshot of me when my first Flourishes package came in. I know I'm a silly girl but I wanted something to reminded me of the thrill of the reality of being chosen for the design team.

Elegant Beauty

One more card from Flourishes today. I love the elegant and beautiful finish of this one. Here I used a Fabriano folded card as the base and stamps from Flourishes "O Christmas Tree" set. The dry embossed oval was made with a Spellbinder Nestability die and oh wow! How easy and fast this card came together. I was going for a softer look and used Versa Mark ink with Shimmer Chalks from The Angel Company. This might be the winning card to send to the family this year! I just love it!

CARD DETAILS:
Flourishes "O Christmas Tree"
Fabriano Note Card 3.25 x 5.25
Versa Mark Ink
Gold Embossing Powder
Shimmer Chalks
Ribbon

Stamping Diva Sketch Challenge

Toni, Stamping Diva, had a sketch challenge last week. Since then I've had it on my desktop on my to-do-list. I used Flourishes Fantasy Floral Garden as my main stamps with papers from Basic Grey's Lily Kate 6x6 stack. I love this paper so much. Jan Marie of Flourishes shared with me from her personal stash. It's so pretty and inspiring that I want to keep it untouched. The center square was masked off and inked in with Versa Magic Chalk ink with the vine stamped on in Palette ink. The ribbon is from Martha Stewart topped off with a Prima Flower.

Thank you Jan Marie for the papers and thank you Toni for the sketch!

CARD DETAILS:
Flourishes Fantasy Floral Garden
LilyKate Basic Grey Papers
Versa Magic Chalk Ink
Palette Ink
Martha Stewart Ribbon
Prima Flower

We Have our WINNERS!

Here I am in my pj's, no make-up on, and my hair up in a scrunchie going over to Random.org to have the Blog Blessing winners chosen. So let's just pretend I am a glamour girl from one of those game shows.... and the winners are numbers 27 & 72!!!!

Suzy you are number 27 ("Make a Wish") and kc_froglady ("Peace") you are number 72!!

Suzy wrote:
What a fantastic blog you have! What wonderful treats you are giving away! Thank you for doubly (is that a word lol) blessing your readers.
Suzy

kc_froglady wrote:
Really have enjoyed reading your blog - great tuts in with your samples

Congratulations Ladies! Please contact me with your snail mail addresses so I can mail out your stamps to you.

Thank you all for participating in my blog blessings and for visiting Inkcicles. It has been a joy to share and an encouragement to read your comments and helpful tips. I will be hosting more Blog Blessings in the near future. Big SMILES!!!

Same Paper Different DESIGN

Yesterday was such an awesome day. God gifted me with a husband that indulges me. After the morning service and after we had lunch Andrew kept Ellie busy so that I could stamp. It was tempting at times to stop what I was doing when I could hear her fussing, but Daddy had everything under control. I just needed to let them have their time together. I took about an hour and a half to myself and I don't feel ashamed to admit that I loved it. It was so cute when I finally came to the living room. Ellie squealed and put her arms up to me like she does when her Daddy comes home from a days worth of work. What an overwhelming feeling.

What did I get done during this time? I finished the set of mini criss-crosses and then two regular sized cards made with the same papers. Here's the better of the two regular sized ones. My goal was to make one that is somewhat masculine with love as the theme. I am pleased that I happened to accomplish my goal.

Big SMILES!

CARD DETAILS:
Stampin' UP! Stamps
Papers by Lasting Impressions
Palette and Versa Magic Chalk Inks
May Arts Ribbon

BLOG BLESSINGS!

Just a reminder that I'll be drawing for Blog Candy soon!!! Only today and tomorrow to get in on it!
:-)

Mini CRISS-CROSS Cards

If you are into the latest and greatest of cards, then you already know about the Criss-Cross card. Beate of Fresh & Fun posted a tutorial for making this kind of card a few weeks ago and now I see them everywhere. Most the time I am shy about trying new techniques. My best friend Laurie, Stamping for God's Glory, is always the first in town to try them out. I usually wait for her to give it a whirl and then she'll teach me what to do at her technique class. It's a beautiful thing. :-) Anyhow, I saw her criss-cross creation and fell in love. The design is beautiful and the papers with stamps she choose were amazing. One thing Laurie mentioned about making the criss-cross card is the amount of paper it takes. How could I use less paper with this design? Make it smaller! So here it is a MINI-Criss-Cross card (approximately one half the size of the original).

CARD DETAILS:
The Angel Company Stamps
Lasting Impressions Uptown Vine and Pinstripe Papers
Palette Ink
Prima Flowers
Brad
Vintage Button
Ribbons

For Beate's Tutorial click here: Beate's Tutorial
For Laurie's Criss-Cross click here: Miss Laurie

BLOG BLESSINGS for YOU!

It's true... I have goodies for you! Please leave me a comment by Monday, September 17th and I'll do a random drawing for these two wonderful blog goodies. So what's in it for you? You are in for the new "Make A Wish" set designed by Gina K for the Stamps for a Cause series or you are in the running for the Flourishes recently released Christmas set called "Peace". Both of these lovely sets were donated by the kind owners of Flourishes and one with the assistance of Julie Stainton of Belle Papier. Thank you all for your support of my humble blog and stamping career! BIG happy smiles!!!


UPDATE: I forgot to mention that both sets are not wood mounted. The "Make a Wish" set is unmounted with Creative Cling and the "Peace" set is all clear stamps. You will need acrylic blocks or a substitute to play with these guys.

HEY...

So sorry I couldn't post a wonderful stampin' creation today. I have been working on organizing my stamping space. I share an office with my husband and it would mean so much to him if I actually made space for him in our room. I guess my creative genius takes up too much of our shared space. Anyhow, I've found some wonderful stuff I've been stashing to make projects with. I've also found the courage to get rid of stamps that I don't use or have never got around to using. I've decided to hold an on-line garage sale with my goodies. Eventually I will be posting a link where you can check that out.

Thank you for checking in on me. I'll be back tomorrow with an awesome announcement.

:-)

PHOTO INFO:
Andrew took this photo when we were on one of our summer walks. One thing about the arctic, everything is flown or barged in. Once it gets here the only way is out the same way it came or taken care of at the dump. We are a village of many old rusting cars with flat tires and shattered windows. For most the year they are blanketed with snow and hidden. Here's a treasure to see...even in this state of neglect.

Fantasy FLORAL Garden

Another new release from Flourishes is there set called "Fantasy Floral Garden". Here I combined Basic Grey's Pheobe flower papers with the blossoms from "Fantasy Floral Garden" to make this set of small notecards. The "Bloom" sentiment is just right for this paper garden.

CARD DETAILS:
Flourishes "Fantasy Floral Garden"
Basic Grey Pheobe CS & Palette Ink

FLOURISHED Christmas

Flourishes, LLC recently released Christmas set is called "O Christmas Tree". There are oodles of ways you can decorate the vintage style tree.... from ornaments to presents. Here I used Miss Laurie's Spellbinders to add dimension and decorative aspects throughout the entire card. If I count it up correctly I've used at least five Spellbinder Nestability dies. I'm telling you it was great FUN!

SPECIAL THANKS to Laurie, Stamping for God's Glory, for letting me use her Spellbinders and for hanging out with me as I designed this card. You girl, are a wonderful encouragement and I appreciate your help. Big SMILES!

You can find Flourishes "O Christmas Tree", metallic cardstock, Basic Grey papers, ribbons, and Spellbinders Nestabilities on the Flourishes website at http:flourishes.org

CARD DETAILS:
Flourishes "O Christmas Tree"
Basic Grey Blush Paper
Metallic Shimmery Red Cardstock
Versa Magic Chalk Ink
Palette Ink
Spellbinder Nestabilities
Ribbon
Stickles: Red, Holly, Gold

Blue DOODLE

I don't know what to say about this creation of mine....UM???? Here it is 10:41 pm and I thought I already posted this card earlier today. I guess that's how it goes sometimes. WHEW & a long sigh-smile. The worse part is that I used a sketch from a challenge and I can't remember where I found it right now. I'll be sure to update my post when I remember. :-)

Now that I am really looking at this creation of mine I'm not sure if I should leave it up. The style is a departure from my usual...it's kinda loud. YIKES! Maybe exploring new styles is a good thing? What do you think? I'll go get my "BIG Girl" panties on just in case it's not good.

CARD DETAILS:
Michael's Dollar Acrylic Stamp
The Angel Company "Curls & Swirls" & Retired LE Stamp
Palette Ink
Basic Grey Papers w/ one strip of DCWV Sparkle Scrap
Lace Flower
Bling Flower from a Broken OTC toy ring
Red Stickles


UPDATE: The sketch is from Sketch This: Cards. I think I've put my finger on it! It's a combination of the sketch with the paper that lead this card out of my comfort zone. It's unique and I made it. No shame in that. :-)

THANK YOU all for your sweet comments of encouragement. Florence of Flossie's Follies suggested that when you do a sketch to email yourself the blog site so you don't loose track of where you were. Awesome Tip!

FUN...

Corie (Creations By Corie) sent me a RAK last month. What a blessing to receive some images to play with. Here's a card I put together using "Hey Cupcake!" from her.

This is another 2"x3" little matchbook style card. It's not a true matchbook fold at the bottom of the card. Instead it's a trio of stamped scallops. I've fallen in love with this simple design.

CARD DETAILS:
Amuse Stamps ~ The Cupcake and Sentiment
The Angel Company Stamp (Circles with dots)
OTC Scallop Edged White Card
DCWV Sparkle Paper
Chalks blended with Dove Blender
Highlighted with Gelly Glaze Pens
SU! Ribbon

UPDATE: THANKS JILL!!!

USPS INFO

Hey Ladies. I saw this posting over on Corie's Blog, Creations by Corie, referring you to a post on Nancy Riley's Blog, iSTAMP. I thought I would send you to either of their links to see the full write-ups. Basically any piece of mail that has lumps or bumps in it requires extra postage. This includes square cards/mailings too. Please see the full details at:

iSTAMP
Creations by Corie

Saturday FUN

This Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a stamping party. We now have a Close to My Heart demonstrator in town. Thanks to Robin Smith, CTMH Independent Demonstrator, for these fun cards! Of course I am probably a stamping party demonstrator's nightmare because I tend to not stick strictly to the card designs. So here's my version of the demonstrated cards. I had lots of fun! THANKS ROBIN!!!

Oldies...

I made these two cards last month. I thought I'd share them since I dont' have anything to post right now. They make me smile!

CARD DETAILS:
Images were given to me. I think it from Stampendous.
Scrapbook paper is from The Angel Company and is called "Vintage Holiday"
Coloring done with Prisma Colored Pencils and Gamsol Blending
Polka Dot May Arts Ribbon & Unknown Red Ribbon on the other

Oopsie...

I don't know if you noticed that I've been somewhat scarce this last two weeks. It's been a busier than expected time for us. Last night was a night I had planned to do some stamping because our guest had left, Andrew was home to look over Ellie, and I wasn't working. Well, here it is a day later and I have to tell you that I didn't stamp anything to share for today. Andrew and I spent time together instead. We watched a netflix together. We are so romantic aren't we?! It was a very relaxing evening.

Guess what? Ellie started crawling!!!! It was so awesome. I happened to have the camera out with the short little video captures when she crawled to me! I caught it digitally! It was so exciting!!! I am gonna have to work harder on baby proofing our home now that she's more mobile. Right before that we were driving home from work and the post office when I spotted a huge walrus swimming by near the shore. This is not a usual sighting either. We parked and watched the big fella swim for a a good five minutes. His tusks were so long. That's the first walrus I've seen in the wild like that. God's creations are wonderful... from little Ellie to the big walrus!

PHOTO: Here's a photo of me and my husband the day before I flew out to give birth to Ellie. We had no clue that she was on the way because I still had over two months more to go. We thank God every day for His miracle in our healthy baby daughter.

Yip-EE Skippy!!

Two posts in a row! Yea for ME! Yes, I know I am a silly girl. So here it is almost the weekend again. Fall is around the corner and the colder weather is already here. I've pulled out my parka and I've even put it on a couple times when we've gone out. It used to be big on me but when we went out to have little Ellie I washed it and it shrunk! It fits just right now but I don't have any room for Ellie to be zipped in. Most babies around here are carried in their mommy's parka and held in place with a belt. It's a comfortable arrangement when your parka isn't too small. Maybe my Mom and I will make another one this winter when we go down to visit her. Either way it takes time and some dollars to make a new parka. It's essential when you live up here... guess I'll wait and see.

The cards I am sharing today are matchbook size approximately 2"x3". The cards on the left were stamped with Stamin' Up! stamps from the "Monkey Business" set and the cards on the right were stamped with The Angel Company stamps. The papers were from Self-Addressed. I used Martha Stewart ribbons and a couple of brads as embellishments. I love this little set of cards and I hope you enjoy viewing them too.

WHO is it?

I thank you all for continuing to check on me while I've been away from the computer. It's a blessing to have such wonderful blogging pals.

I have been stamping when I can and here's two cards I made with Flourishes new designs. They will be releasing three freshly designed stamping sets. Two of which are for Christmas and the other is a super fun and versatile floral collection. Please check their website for all the details. Here's their link: Flourishes.

Both of these creations were made using Basic Grey's "Blush" papers and a mix of Palette and Versa Magic Chalk inks. I also stamped in Flourished Words for the sentiment on the flower card and the trio of dots in the corners on the Christmas card from Cake Decorating 101. The red cardstock on the Christmas card is shimmery and the ribbon on this card is absolutely wonderful. I love the way it feels. It's so soft and sturdy. What's really cool is that it's double sided too. What an awesome detail!

NOTE: I know for sure that I won't be able to get back on to post anything tonight. If I have a chance later today I really need to visit my list of stamping blogs for some inspiration and to leave comments. I miss you all!!!

Still Stampin'

Hello Ladies. Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm not avoiding my blog. We actually have company staying with us and a few other things going on. I hope to share some stamping art with you all as I can this week.

Happy Stamping!
~Nancy