Stamp & Scrap Party Packages have arrived!

I have been working on putting together party packages for birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, etc. I finally have a few of them put together and have the samples made. I already have thoughts for some other projects that will eventually put together as well. The projects have all come out super cute. You can check out the packages and pricing on my website at www.janinerobertson.com I have my first birthday party in July so off I go...

Father's Day Card

I was trying this technique I read in a magazine but it wasn't working like it said. I had to improvise because I seem to have misplaced my brayer so I used a sponge instead and sponged on the ink. That may be the reason why it didn't work. In any case, what came out was looking pretty good anyways. I am pleased with it and will guide those that come to my Father's Day card camp on June 1st how to make it.

Playing around

I have been playing around with new techniques when I have time which has been really overloaded lately with end of school stuff. I made this card with the baby wipe stamping technique. It came out fabulous. This technique is so easy and you can use so many different combinations of ink colors with your stamps. I am going to continue to have a little more fun with this technique.

Father's Day is coming!

Mother's Day is almost upon us. Time to get those cards sent! I have been working on Father's Day cards and the coaster album. The project came out really cute! It was really very simple. I will have to remember to bind the book first before adding any pictures or embellishments. It was the first time using the bind it all machine. It's really very easy! But like I said you may want to bind before you design each page just in case. One of my pages is a little cockeyed. Oh well. Live and learn. That's why I do it first and teach others what not to do. LOL!

Stamp Camp a learning experience!

My first stamp camp was on Sunday. I think I did a good job organizing and prepping everything but when your in the midst of it with 11 totally different people you find that there are lots of things that could be better. First off, 25 cards was too many for them to do in the 3 hour time span. I don't think any of my guests were suprised that they wouldn't get it done. Some even stayed up to 2 1/2 hours longer and still didn't get them all done. I did feel bad about it since that was what I advertised for the price. Some of them I think took home the makings for some of the ones they couldn't get to and I started making some to just give to people before they left. Everyone had fun and learned some new things. They were all great about ideas on what could be done next time. There are definitely different levels of experience you have to take into consideration so next time will be a beginner, intermediate and advanced level card designs/techniques. For the next stamp camp I will have everyone choose their level and then I will design 3 cards for them to make 5 times for a total of 15 cards. Then at the end everyone can swap their cards and take home 15 unique cards. This give intermediate and advanced stampers a chance to learn some new stuff and gives the beginner stamper just the basics so they aren't overwhelmed and leave with a poor self-esteem because they couldn't get it right.
Baby wipes are a definite must to wipe up hands and another stamp cleaner pad. For the most part, I learned what to do better in the future and like I said everyone still had lots of fun.
I am working on a Father's Day coaster ablum for my next stamp camp coming up the first of June. So, I will post later about that with a picture.

Bandana Technique

Got this bandana technique idea from the Paperwings gallery where all the Angels post. It's really easy and it looks so darn authentic. I have used the Spring Dream stamp set with black Palette ink and a white gel pen for the highlights. I will be showing my crop club this tomorrow!

Still gearing up for my birthday card stamp camp. I am excited and a little bit stressed on how it will all come together but I think I have prepared enough so... I will let you know next week how it all turned out.

I am also having my first ever mystery hostess funshop. We will be making Mother's Day cards with the new bandana technique and the chalk tracing technique. One last funshop before the double hostess benefits is gone. I hope they bring it back again soon!

Habits are hard to create!

Well, I had intended to keep up with this blog thing but I have been AWOL! Actually, I have just been busy creating, being a mom and suffering with my shoulder injury from the indoor skydiving thing I did with my hubbie for our anniversary. I am just about caught up on my creating. I got an order for 2 first year baby books and an 8x8 wedding book along with another 8x8 baby's birth book. It was really fun to do the baby books since my kiddos are getting way beyond babyhood. One of my friends and a crop club member shared with me the crystal laquer she had recently purchased from me for TAC crop club. Yes, even I still learn new things and find new products to use. This stuff was way cool. I die cut some vehicle shapes for the boy baby book from the Cricut, painted them with acrylic paint and then put this crystal laquer stuff over them. Wow, they looked awesome. Who needs to buy pre-made embellishment when you can create your own unique stuff that totally works with your album layouts.
Well, now I just have to finish my mom's scrapbook. It's been a long haul with this one as I ended up having to scan in a lot of pictures and try to restore them as they are old and have lots of damage. It was a learning process since I just got Adobe Photoshop Elements for my birthday back in November. Thankfully, I am on the last leg doing embellishments and final touches. She will be out here in April so I still have plenty of time. Next up will be doing a heritage album for my late grandparents. Gotta start going through the pictures and doing some scanning again!
January has come and gone but in that time, I worked on my goal setting. I am working on trying to get to doing up to 4 albums per month in any size. January's goal was easily met but February isn't going to be so good. My goal is acutally to work up to doing 4 per month by the end of the year so I still have work to do and can give myself a little break. It will mostly come in spurts anyways.
Part of my goals is to have a planner and plan and prepare better. I will have to put blogging in my planner so I make a point of getting to it. Habits are hard to create but they can be so useful in the end.
Until the next time, whenever that will be...