Knee Deep in Card-a-Thon Stuff....

HELLO EVERYONE!!...

Can you hear my voice?
I am shouting to you from under a huge, and forever growing, heap of boxes..envelopes and packages that are beginning to arrive here for the Card-a-Thon....and have transformed my house into a warehouse of all sorts of card making supplies.

What's the Card-a-Thon you ask?

Well...I'll give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of the story...
This is how it all started..

Last year..I had this desire to create cards for our U.S. Military Heroes...I thought I'd do it on my own..and send them to Operation Write Home..and Operation Quiet Comfort...
Then I thought...hmmm...maybe I'll ask my Workshop ladies if they wanted to join me...

and from there..it too off..and all began to happen....

and so...l after many months of planning...getting donations from a few crating companies....posting threads on Splitcoaststampers.com asking for donations of colored images..and other card making goodies...I found that the response was FANNN-tastic!...
This was turning out to be much more than a handful of ladies getting together to make cards...

and so...last October (2009) I organized and hosted the first Card-a-Thon here in my home town
in hopes of making about 500 cards for our US military heroes...

The cards being made would all be sent to Operation Write Home..and Operation Quiet Comfort

Approximately 40 volunteers of all ages came that day and created cards from 10 a.m. - 6 pm...
and in the end... we didn't make 500 cards... or 1000 cards....
we made 1754 cards!!!

My blog has been VERY quiet lately..(no time to create)...but these are a few photos from last years card-a-thon....
http://mypaperbliss.blogspot.com/2009/10/few-card-thon-pictures.html

The event was such a success..and the people who volunteered told me to count them in if I did another Card-a-Thon..

so...here I am..KNEE DEEP  IN CARD-A-THON STUFF!

I started out with this years goal being 2000 cards........but am now thinking that with the donations I've already received..(and with what's YET to come)..we may be able to go beyond that insanely ridiculously huge number of 2000....and hopefully maybe even make it to 23...24...2500!!

The flip side of this is...I have not created a single thing sin ages..other than the featured cards and projects for the monthly workshops and crop that I do...

I am now feeling itchy about getting back to my card making..,,(I really miss my creative time)...so while I won't promise anything...to you..OR myself.....I'll say that I am hoping that by the time mid August rolls around..I'l be sharing some photos with you here..of things I'll be creating...

So..if you'd like to donate colored/matted images to the October 23rd Card-a-Thon..and push us further along to the 2500 number.... ...please email me at LovesStampin@aol.com

And...if you live near by...it'd be wonderful to have you join us on October 23rd for a 12 hour day of card making!

I hope that all of my blogging friends are having a safe and wonderful Summer...and always know..although my own bog has been very quiet...I continue to enjoy making the rounds to YOUR blogs to admire your work....

and sometimes...to steal a bit of inspiration!

Enjoying Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie and a 2 Page Layout

right hand page

left hand page

Ive always enjoyed creating with these 2 colors..and now that Apricot Appeal is retiring...I guess I am feeling a little bit sentimental..and so I opted to have the ladies in last night's Tuesday Evening Scrapbooking Class create these pages.

They did a fantastic job..some of the ladies replicated these pages exactly..and others switched things up..adding their own twist and personal style to both pages..

Apricot Appeal was very popular..(makes me think that it may be missed)

I have to add..if not for teaching these classes at the high school....I probably would not be creating pages at all....so I am glad to be motivated by the weekly classes......
I find that, over the years, I have truly become a card maker...and rarely scrap anymore...unless I "need" to focus on scrapping for a purpose.(aka workshops and classes)
Funny enough..I look at these pages..and see that my card making and scrapping styles truly do overlap.

It's happening!..and I am SO excited!

The planning for the October 2010  Card-a-Thon has officially begun.....
and I am SO excited!

Last October volunteers created1754 cards were made for our US military heroes with 10% donated supplies!
ALL of the cards were donated to Operation Write Home  and  Operation Quiet Comfort.

This years cards will also be sent, with a happy heart, to both of these wonderful organizations!

If you'd like to join either...or both...of these Splitcoast Stampers swaps...your help and donation of colored images  and or card candy will allow us to reach this years goal of 2000 cards!

You can visit the swaps here:
Colored Image Swap 
and 
Red White and Blue Card Candy Swap 

The "other" Card

This is the other Brocade Blue card that was done at last weekends Cards Only Workshop...

It's impossible...I think...to not love this color combo..(even tho I had a hard time getting the Certainly Celery card stock to show its true beautiful color in these photos..)

The combination embossing gives this card some great texture...and inking the Bashful Blue embossed layer together with using dimensionals....gave this card even a little bit more depth and dimension.

The ladies at the workshop enjoyed working on both of these cards..and I think that Brocade Blue being this months color was a well received.

Finally! Something to talk about!

I can't believe what I am seeing..
The last time I posted here on my blog was January 24th...
Can that be possible?
(That's almost 2 months!)

I need to get with the program and start giving some much needed attention to blog again...

That being said..I DO have card to share with you....

This is one of the 2 card versions that was made at last nights Card Making Workshop that I do once a month.
If you've seen me post other info here on my blog about the monthly workshop...you already know that we use one color palette per workshop..

Last nights color was Brocade Blue....and i think that everyone liked the color..
It's been a while since we worked with a shade of blue..so this was a nice fresh new look on our palettes.
Brocade Blue..Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue seem made for one another...

If you're a local..and want to join us at a workshop......come visit us here
HERE

I am Up and Running....

This was a happy hectic weekend ...with a relaxing Saturday being bookended between my daughter's wonderful Sweet 16 Party on Friday night...and my website (The Card Galleria) finally becoming a reality tonight!!
The web address is: www.thecardgalleria.com

In coming weeks I'll be adding more photos and other items... what you see today is my "start"....

I'll share a few photos of my daughter's party later this week..but for now can share the link to my website...which has a page for the  Gentle Mother and Calf card posted here again today.

Part of the purchase price of a boxed set of this card will be donated to The Elephant Sanctuary in support of my friend John and his dedication to these beautiful animals.

If you visit The Card Galleria HERE you can read all about The Elephant Sanctuary.....

Something for Someone Who is Dedicated to a (Very)Good Cause

My friend John is a Vet...and very passionate in his efforts focused on stopping the mistreatment of circus elephants....organizing protests...meetings with community leaders..and other individuals whom he hopes to engage in support of his dedication to bringing to light the ongoing mistreatment of circus elephants..and implementing changes that hopefully will bring positive change to how these beautiful animals are treated.....handled and used.

I wanted to make a set of note cards for him and so a while back I searched around for a stamp that would be reflective of these beautiful animals....and somehow portray their (natural) beauty...and convey a feeling of peace and tranquility...

In my search I came across every imaginable image of elephants (who knew there were SO many elephant stamps out there!)...but as soon as I saw this one...I knew it was the right one.

I love the image of mother and baby...and their trunks touching....I think it definitely captures and portrays the feeling that I had hoped to capture..and the combination of the cocoa..black and vanilla card stock seemed like a perfect fit..especially with using the Distressed Vintage Photo ink for the image itself......

With this being a set of cards for a guy....I kept the look clean...and simple...and in the end..I was very happy with how they turned out... (I hope he is too!)

I am Still Here....

Hi Everyone..

I am still here...not much creating has been going on...so my poor Blog has been VERY neglected...
actually..it's more like it was "abandoned"...temporarily...

I spent the first 2 1/2 weeks of December in bed with the flu..and then 3 more weeks out of bed..but housebound...feeling "not too great"....Gary and Chelsea stepped in and kept things going and i give each of them an A+++...and am grateful for their willingness to do their best at keeping up on things while I was in bed..so December is a big blur to me..with 5 weeks of being home..going nowhere and not doing a thing. (no cards...no housework...no big hullabaloo for Christmas here at our house..NOTHING)...(I did venture out one Day mid December thinking I was feeling okay....and did a Cards Only Daytime Workshop for 3 hours..but realized at the end of the day that opting to do that was a BIG mistake...and so back to bed I went for another week...

Finally last week..I realized that I am feeling a little bit more like my usual self..and have started to get back to normal..

I had my first all day monthly workshop of this new year on Saturday (had to cancel December)..and it felt SO good to be back in the creative mode...

Now I am anxious to start digging thru some of the things that I had ordered in December...while home sick.. I have unopened boxes here filled with lots of goodies..everything from 2 HUGE SU orders...to dies..nesties..stamps..card stock..gorgeous paper..lots of BG 6 x 6 pads...embellishments... a great order of Ornare piercing templates... copics...and lots more that I can't even remember...

I'll feel like its Christmas all over again when I finally open everything up...and have time to try things out...

..I hope that this fresh New Year brings only good and wonderful things to you...and I'll look forward to sharing some creativity with you here on my Blog....and to get back to visiting each of your blogs...

PS..the card pictured here is a simple very basic card that we made at the Monthly Cards Only Workshop this past weekend...this was the basic card..and then variations were made starting with this fold and basic sketch

Finallly!!! I made a card!!

Wow.... you know it's pathetic when you get excited about finding time to create a ("a" as in ONE) card!

It's been such a long time since I sat down and relaxed and created a card...just because"...and I have to say..I am missing my creative time...alot

The truth is..this card was not a "just because" card...Gary actually asked me to make a guy card for a friend...but wow...this almost felt like a leisurely relaxed block of time for card making and creating...so I am happily considering it a victory! I FINALLY sat down and made a card!!!

This card is very simple and basic...and a great card to make if you don't have oodles of time to get out lots of supplies and materials...I used some basic Stampin Up! card stock (Kraft, Black..Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla) and a nice "guy" type of image with a beautiful sentiment...and a nice pocket watch image used as a backgrund...all were stamped out with TH Distressed (Vintage Photo) ink...I also daubered all of the edges with the TH ink..(even the Kraft...Black and Chocolate Chip cs)..and DONE!

This is a simple nice card to make in multiples if you're needing to stock up on guy cards...
but for now..I'll allow myself to be happy that I found a little speck of time to make "a" card!

We Have a Blog Candy Winner!

Sorry for being a bit ate getting this post together to announce the Blog Candy winner for the Sizzix Alpha Die set...but today I was out all day...doing my Stampin Up! thing at an all day "Crop for a Cure"...(A crop organized a few times a year by two amazing dynamo ladies to raise funds for breast cancer research here on Long Island, where we have enormously huge and horrifying statistics for the number of breast cancer diagnoses...
Living in a cancer hub...we, here in local communities...are acutely aware of the need to raise funds that are directly applied to researching the possible "whys" for the alarmingly huge numbers for breast cancer on our Island.

To summarize...the event was a sell out..(110 scrappers and card makers..)...great food..great people..great fun...and a GREAT BIG SUCCESS!

and now..if you listen closely you'll hear a blog candy drum roll...and I'll happily shout that Martha (theneon/raining rubber) was assigned #13..and she is the BLOG CANDY WINNER! (Winner picked by random.org)

Martha wrote:
Hi Michelle -- I just wanted you to know how much I have enjoyed using your tutorial on the accordian Halloween card. I've posted one that I made following your example on my blog and given you credit. (http://raining-rubber.blogspot.com) Please let me know if this is O.K. To follow the thread, my most fav costume was when I put together a Carmen Miranda Hat laden down with fruit.

Congratulations Martha!!!
...step forward please..open up your trick or treat goodie bag..and I'll happily drop the Sizzix alpha set right in there!

Thank you all for your wonderful stories of your favorite Halloween costumes...it was lots of fun reading thru then..and seeing what a creative bunch we really are!

So now.....we are into November...time to switch gears fro Halloween to Thanksgiving...and Christmas...

I'll look forward to visiting everyone's blogs...to see hat you're creating..and to steal a bit of inspiration now and then...