Baskets for THE cure

Ethel has a bidding going on for Longaberger baskets to support Susan G. Komen Foundation. You can participate in the bidding here.

Nicola's Sketch #7

I'm really happy with this one - it turned out better than what I'd imagined. I loved the way things kept falling into place. It's based on Nicola's sketch #7.
Since the time I bought the white CS in bulk I've decided to always use white as my base. I think it has couple of advantages: easy to write on the inside of the card - that's my main motivation, cheaper than colored and one can achieve the same results as with colored CS.

• White CS: Wasau Exact Index, 140lb
• PP: DCWV
• Stamp: SU! Just for fun.
• Prismacolor pencils and OMS.
• Ribbon and Scallop scissors.

Pillow box

This is the next in line among my IWT (I want To...) list. I used to keep reading about people making this pillow box and that but none of them had any photos so I didn't know how it looked till finally I saw it on A Scrapjourney. The template can be found at Mirkwood. I was too lazy to print out the template so I just ball-parked all dimnesions and drew the template by hand. It's not that difficult.

• White CS
• PP: DCWV
• Stamp: SU! Just for fun.
• Prismacolor pencils and OMS.
• Ribbons

Milk carton box

Finally I've some time on hand so I can tick off some items from my "I want to..." list on the right. This is first in the line. I made it following Beate's tutorial on SCS. The first time I saw it, I found it so cute that I immediately decided that I want to make it some day. I think it makes for a wonderful treat box for kids and it could also be part of a gift basket for kids.
There's a paper clip holding the top as I haven't yet sealed it, I wanted to seal it after I've put some candies inside. And if I hadn't put that paper clip, I wouldn't get the right shape in the photo!

• White CS
• PP: DCWV
• Ribbons and Glitter stickers

Wasau paper and Di's sketch

I was looking for some white CS as my OMS technique wasn't working too well on what I'd and since it was near its end I'd to anyway get some new one. So I'd been reading the discussions on SCS to get people's opinion on which one was a good and reasonable choice. A good majority was in favor of Neenah's Classic Crest (Avalanche White)80 lb paper. So I went to Kelly's paper in my area to get that ream. Since I was there I asked them if there was any paper that was similar to this but cheaper. He showed me this: Wasau Exact Index paper 140 lb, 92 brightness. Since I don't know much about papers it was hard to tell the difference and he was kind enough to offer me samples of both so that I could use and then decide. I used the wasau paper and I must say that it's great!

• It's 140 lb index weight so that's 93 lb cover weight (for conversion from index weight to cover weight check here), that means it's heavier than the 80 lb cover paper.
• It's half the price of Neenah paper. $12.33 for a ream of 250.
• The OMS blending technique works really well, it's nice and smooth so the color simply glides. It was then that I realized how much difference the paper makes.

Of course, I'm not saying it's equivalent to Neenah but it's definitely a good compromise. I'm yet to try the Neenah paper and I'll post my review on that too. I must put in a good word for Kelly's Paper, the paper supply store, as they were nice enough to give me free samples and hence enabled me to make an educated choice.

Here's my card using the Wasau paper. It's based on Di's March Sketch #3. I used rectangles instead of circles as I'm waiting for my nestabilities.

• White CS: Wasau
• Colored CS and PP: DCWV
• Stamp: SU! Just for fun
• Prismacolor pencils, OMS and blending stumps.

Seven weird facts

I've been tagged by Tejal of Creating New Expressions, to list seven weird facts about myself. I don't think I'm weird at all :), so it's going to be a hard hard task to do this. I might twist the rules a little so as to make it "Seven facts" rather than "Seven weird facts" :).

1. I like alu parantha with cheddar cheese.
2. I don't like hot drinks be it tea, coffee, soup or anything else.
3. I love milk.
4. I've recently become a decluttering fanatic, bound on donating/selling anything and everything in our house that hasn't been used in the past 3 months. My DH is scared to death that I'll empty the house :).
5. I can never get my "lefts" and "rights" right. (Yes, I'm like that! :)) So don't ever give me directions in terms of left and right!
6. I've never been able to grow plants in pots successfully :(. Sooner or later they always die.
7. When I was a child, I would never sleep until my mom tucked me in bed.

Phew! That was a huge exercise for the grey cells. Now who do I tag...I know very few people and as far as I remember they've all been tagged but I maybe wrong. So if you're reading this and you've not done this, consider yourself tagged by me :). I would love to your seven facts.

Geometrics

I wanted to participate in Allison's Geometrics challenge but couldn't create this card in time and neither did it come out as I'd expected it to be.

• CS and PP: DCWV
• Stacking daisy punch

Nicola's Sketch #6

Here's my entry for Nicola's Sketch #6.

• PP and CS: DCWV
• Stamp: Dollar bin at M's.
• Prismacolor pencils and OMS

Free patterned/scrapbook digital paper!

Well I found this wonderful site scrapbookscrapbook.com which has some very beautiful patterned paper for free download!! How great that is! I especially like this paisley collection.

Stamping/Card Making for beginners II

03/30/08: Updated #1 and #7.
The first part of "Stamping for Beginners" is here. They're not a series. The first part is basically when I'd just started and stumbled upon Gina K's article. Now that I've been doing this for a few months, I thought I would compile a list of things I think a beginner needs. So here it goes:

1. White Card Stock: This is the most essential ingredient. Recently I read on SCS that Beckett Expression #80 (for 80 lb) is a good and reasonably-priced option for this. I finally bought Wasau Exact Index, 140 lb and it seems to be great!
2. Colored Card Stock or a Scrap pack of colored Card Stock: The latter costs $5 at chain craft stores and is a huge assortment of colored card stock of various sizes. For the former, I usually get the DCWV card stock. Last time I got the Fall Stack which has 50 sheets of 8.5" x 11" for $10. This was after sale. There's also DCWV Brights card stock or the Neutrals CS.
3. Paper Trimmer: When I started this hobby, I was of the opinion that why would one absolutely need a paper trimmer - there's always scissors; but I was wrong! A scissor can't achieve what a trimmer can, at least not for people like me. The lines never come out straight and unless you can get nice, clean, straight lines you wouldn't feel happy with your work. You can get a decent one for $10 and by using a 40% off coupon, you need to shell only $6!
4. Prismacolor pencils: These are great for coloring your stamped images. A set of 24 is good for starting, unless you want to invest more. Ebay is a good place to get them.
5. An all-occassion stamp set: If you buy a stamp set instead of individual stamps, get one which has a stamps that can cover all occassions. For example I bought the SU! Just for fun which has a heart that can be used for "romantic" occassions like Valentine, anniversary, etc.; a cupcake that can be used for almost any celebration be it a birthday or anniversary or anything else; a moon and stars stamp that is good for "make a wish" or even baby cards; and so on. Buying a set comes out cheaper than inidividual stamps unless you buy individual stamps from the dollar bins at M's. Also, make sure that these stamp images don't have sentiments with them. That way a given image can only be used for that particular occassion. A cake image is more versatile than a cake image with "Happy Birthday" written all over it.
6. Adhesive: I used my glue stick initially but it doesn't do a very good job. So I then bought the Tombo Mono adhesive.
7. Sentiments or Alphabet stamps: It's good to have these stamps, they make your cards complete. I like the Papertrey's "Mixed Messages" or "Paper Tray" set. Then there is "Flourished Words" by Flourishes and "Tag tidbits" by TAC.
8. Black ink pad: You want to buy an ink pad which can be used in multitude scenarios. Stazon black ink fits that purpose.

Optional accessories available for cheap:

1. Shape scissors: Scallop scissors are very useful. Next in line would be a wave scissors. You can get them 2/$1 on sale.
2. Ribbon: If you want to keep just 1-2 ribbons, buy solid colors. They're easy to coordinate and double-sided. Grosgrain ribbon looks good. Satin too. Get a color that'll coordinate with most colors like white.

I don't think patterned/scrapbook paper is absolutely essential, hence you'll find it missing from my list. Another thing to bear in mind - when you buy things that you're going to keep long-term try not to compromise even if that means you've to wait another month. Gather these supplies slowly and gradually, but each of your choice. Use the 40% coupon for chain craft stores for buying your supplies to avoid a hole in your pocket!

Blog Candy at SheetLoad of Cards

SheetLoad of Cards is having a huge blog candy so visit them for more details, maybe you can win!

Embossing - where did I go wrong?

Here's my another first - card with an embossing! I'd been longing to get an embossing tool set for sometime, so I finally got one thanks to the Michaels coupon :). The card did come out as I'd imagined but I feel that I'm missing something as far as embossing is concerned. It hasn't come out as "raised" as I'd thought it would. If you know what I could've done wrong please let me know, I would appreciate that a lot! Once again no PP! I've been leaving the sentiments out of my card... actually I want to get myself one of the sentiments stamps by Papertrey ink. So if I get them before I send these cards then I can bless these cards with those messages :).

• CS: DCWV
• Stamp: SU! Just for fun.
• Stamp 'n Stuff Gold embossing powder, Top Boss Tinted Ink, Marvy Uchida Embossing heat tool, Victorian scissors.

Nicola's sketch #5

Finally I'm back!!!! It sure feels good to be making cards again :). My vacation was very refreshing! Here's my first card after the vacation and it's inspired from Nicola's Sketch #5. I dunno if it was the big break or if it's just me, but it took me a really long time to decide what colors I wanted to choose. Not that earlier I was fast, but this time I think it took me longer to decide what colors would be there on the card than it took me to make the card!
This is also my first card using the OMS (Odorless Mineral Spirit) technique. Let me tell you something - the OMS technique ain't a piece of cake it looks like! When I used to look at others' creations using OMS, I would wish to myself "Oh! When would I get to try my hands on it". When I did, I realised I totally sucked at it! Hmm...I need to practice a lot. Another thing about this card - there's no PP!

• CS: DCWV
• Stamp: Michaels' dollar bin
• Scallop scissors, OMS.