Katemade Designs

Papertrey Ink January Blog Hop

2012-01-25T18:51:00.000-06:00

Here is my entry for the Papertrey Ink January Blog Hop. I used the same two sets for these cards, Year in Flowers, Lily of the Valley for the image and Up, Up and Away for the sentiment.

Then. February 2011.

Now. January 2012

Now. Inside.

The first card had polka dots so I thought the new one should too. I had some packaging in my drawer of green scraps and thought it would work well.

I needed a card base and chose one that already had a cross cut out of it. I really like that the same pattern was on both sides of the packaging. It's not too bright and crazy, perfect for a sympathy, get well or even Easter Card.

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Free Silhouette Studio File: Exercise Clothing

2012-01-25T02:32:00.001-06:00

Playing around with the Silhouette Studio software 2.4 and I am much happier with the cut edge feature. Happy me.

Giving you an image you can print and cut on your own Silhouette. Happy you.

download
This image is from The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser a book I inherited that my ancestors obviously turned to frequently.

The copyright on the book is 1895 so I'm pretty sure "Figure 104 - Exercise Clothing" is now in the public domain.

This image is for your personal use only. NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE.

Happy Crafting,

Silhouette Studio Printable Pattern Basics Tutorial

2012-01-24T00:34:00.000-06:00

Today's video tutorial covers Printable Patterns with the Silhouette Studio software. Each feature is covered and there is a bit of magic at the end. If you would like to see a larger version click here.

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

If you would like to see a larger version click here.

Happy Crafting,

Want to win an iPad or a Kindle Fire?

2012-01-10T01:35:00.000-06:00

My sister received a kindle fire for Christmas this year and I was a bit jealous. Jealousy fades much quicker now then it did when we were kids. Much quicker than when she was first to get eyeglasses (I was an idiot).

Well I can't afford an iPad or Kindle but maybe I can win one. Rafflecopter, the company that developed a fancy script for, oddly enough online raffles, wants to celebrate the new year, and is going to give away a 16GB Apple iPad2 and several Kindle Fires. The giveaway starts today, Monday 1/9 at 12:01 a.m. and lasts for a month. I entered at Crazy Coupon Mommy and clicked the second button, the one that says "blog about this giveaway" so now you can enter too.

All you have to do is click the green button on the Rafflecopter form below and type in “KatemadeDesigns” in the who referred you space. That’s it!! (PS – If you win, I win too!) So click below and good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Happy New Year 2012

2011-12-31T16:10:00.003-06:00

Happy Crafting,

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T23:20:00.002-06:00

Happy Crafting,

Christmas Is… music of the season

2011-12-13T01:42:00.001-06:00

When I was a kid there were only two Christmas records in the house: The Original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Other Children's Christmas Favorites (by) Gene Autry with Guest Star Rosemary Clooney and Christmas Is… which I think my dad got at a gas station (there is a Good Year tire logo on the jacket). We played the heck out of them and even though I went through a "collect as many Christmas CDs as you can" phase i9n the late 20s/early 30s I have never found an album I liked better.

The songs on these albums ARE CHRISTMAS to me. I like new interpretations, new songs, new artists but it's like the difference between an artificial tree and a live tree. Maybe there is more sap in these old songs but I like it that way once in a while. Ok every year.

This year I am making a CD of all those songs by all those artists (in that order) for my family's Christmas. I have wanted to do this for years but "Jingle Bells" by The Mills Brothers and "Christmas Is" by The Hillside Singers were nearly impossible to find and the cost of all those songs on separate albums/CDs would have be prohibitive. This year I found them all on Freegal and iTunes. So happy.

Here is the play list. All beautiful and all classics in my mind.

Christmas Is	The Hillside Singers
Winter Wonderland	Jo Stafford
White Christmas	Frank Sinatra
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas	Judy Garland
What Child Is This?	Vikki Carr
Santa Claus is Coming to Town	Tony Bennett
The Christmas Song	Barbra Streisand
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas	Bing Crosby
I'll Be Home For Christmas	Doris Day
O Holy Night	Andy Williams
Jingle Bells	The Mills Brothers
Silver Bells	Patti Page
Merry Christmas Darling	Carpenters
Silent Night, Holy Night	Julie Andrews

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

First Fair Booth

2011-12-07T17:21:00.001-06:00


An iPhone in the hands of a 9 year old doesn't always produce great results under harsh gymnasium lights — here's proof.

Some days are better than others. This past weekend's fair was not one of the better ones. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the location but we didn't do well at the fair. I owe my son 10% of the take (income - table fee = take) for all his help at and patience with sitting at the fair. I figured it would be a bit of extra money for him to get Christmas presents with. If you are on his gift list, my apologies, his share was only $2.20.

I didn't sell any reindeer food or candles and only sold one magnet to a little girl who wanted a gift for her mom. She was so cute, all consumed in her serious mental debate about which angel would be best. She looked so happy when the First National Bank of Dad finally floated her a $3 loan for her gift.

The next time I am in a fair I will be sure

the organizers are promoting it widely
I promote my being there better
there are other crafters there (this was actually a vendor fair)
it is not competing with another, better promoted fair
I do not lose a lot of sleep making new seasonal items (I will be making those year round now)

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Tubes of Magic Reindeer Food

2011-12-01T14:08:00.001-06:00

I am still preparing for this Saturday's Craft Fair at Paddock Elementary School, 225 Washington St. Palatine, IL next to Kinsch's Floral Shop. The show is open 9:30 am to 1:00 pm stop by and see me if you can.

One of the things I will be selling is tubes of Magic Reindeer Food. I met an elf who gave me the scientific formula for Reindeer Food so I decided to package it in a scientific package - Test tubes. I have a supply from son's Mad Scientist Birthday Party last year.

label_set_C00392_41853 - altered

I found the verbiage of several websites, none of which I thought to write down so thanks to EVERYONE who has ever packaged Reindeer Food.

The tag was made using a label set I got from the Silhouette Online Store. The words didn't fit properly so I altered the tag by adding a box over the tag and welding the shapes together. I added the hole behind the reindeer to the tag on the silhouette. I created a 1-3/8" circle on the Silhouette to use as a template for placement of the punched circles. I used a 1-1/4" punch on the reindeer and a 1-3/8" punch for the reindeer's mat.

The bit of greenery at the bottom of the tags were hand drawn. My son picked out which reindeer we used for this project. I think he picked well - kind of classy. There is exactly 4" of twine holding the tag on the tube. Well holding it in the tube. The ends of the twine are inside the tube being held in by the cork.

My son helped fill the tubes and some of his tubes looked a little low. When I asked about it he said he was concerned that we wouldn't have enough supply. I showed him there was more food and the tubes could be filled he confessed that he wanted it for OUR house. I love that he still believes.

I used a small bucket to display the test tubes. The bottom of the bucket is filled with shredded paper so the tags and tubes would be visible. So how do you like it?

Would you pick up a bit of magic at a craft fair if the price were right? BTW I wonder what the right price would be?

Mini Test Tubes

Mini Test Tube Corks

Stampin' Up! Winter Post Stamp Set

Silhouette SD

Baker's Twine from Crate and Barrel

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Different Drummer Christmas Card

2011-11-28T23:20:00.001-06:00

Each year I make traditional Christmas cards: Tree and Ornament cards, Santa and Sleigh cards, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cards, Holy Family cards, Wise Men cards, Baby Jesus cards.

The card to the left is one of those traditional cards. Embossed notes on red paper with a bracket tag on top stamped with an image of a little drummer boy and colored with Copics. "The Little Drummer Boy" was a favorite Rankin/Bass Christmas Special from my childhood so when I saw this stamp a few years ago I had to get it.

I've been getting a lot of use out of my old Xyron lately adhering full card fronts on card bases made with Papertrey Ink Basic White.

I made a set of 3 cards using the Little Drummer Boy idea in a new way. When I was working on the Rock Star Rosie Benefit I downloaded a drum set from the Silhouette Online Store thinking I would use it to make thank you cards for people drumming up support. I never made those cards so I used the shape to make untraditional Christmas cards. Wishing a Rockin' Christmas to a Little Drummer Boy. The guitar was created from an outline of a guitar in the Rock Out set by Stampendous using the method described in my Lazy Snipper tutorial. I forgot to tell the machine NOT to cut the text in those guitar and wasted a piece of cardstock and more time than I was interested in losing. Is there an oops or undo button on the Silhouette SD?

The card fronts on these cards are from the DCVW Rockstar mat stack. Black and metallic magenta are not traditional Christmas colors but I know a few people would probably be happier with these cards than the first card.

So what do you think? Do you know a drummer who would appreciate these cards?

drum_set_C20091009222859_2581

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Christmas Tags — Prep for Craft Show

2011-11-27T18:00:00.000-06:00

The Silhouette Online Stor e has all their shapes for 50¢ ea now through Monday (11/28/11) and I went a little crazy. I committed the cardinal sin of scrap booking last weekend - I had a party for my son's birthday and forgot to take any pictures - too busy living to record the living I guess. Because it was a Harry Potter Party I was able to get a lot of images from the Silhouette Online Store so when it comes time to tell the story on a layout I will have SOMETHING.

adorable_box_5_C00378_20509

I also went a bit box crazy in preparation for my first real craft show. I purchased pretty much every box that a domino magnet or ornament would fit in nicely. The first box I made was for a set of tags.

6_bracket_labels_C01131_20509 with a hole added for hanging.

The tree stamp (PSX © 1993 (D-1163)) is retired
but you may be able to find it on eBay or Etsy.

I also used a set of bracket labels to make the tag stamping them and distressing the edges with Old Paper colored Distress Ink.
The dots are Stampin' Up! Sahara Sand, the tree is Mellow Moss, and the To/From is Cranberry Crisp.

I added 6 yards of baker's twine to the box to make it a complete package.

I have a ton of ideas for Christmas gifts, cards and tags. I wish I could be 3 people to get them all created. I should really get back to creating, I only have an hour before "Once Upon a Time" is on - it's our families favorite new show and I don't want to miss it.

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Domino Magnets Tutorial

2011-11-17T22:52:00.001-06:00

Supply list:

White Plastic Dominoes
Stazon Solvent Ink black
Your favorite stamp to color
Colored Pencils (I prefer prismacolor)
Blender Stump
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

Sand the back of a domino until the shine is gone. The finish should be dull and there should be sanding pattern. I go across the domino in one direction, then the other, then finish with small circles.

Ink up your favorite stamp with Stazon ink and stamp onto the sanded surface. I used the angel from Stampin' Up's Holy Triptych set. This set was in the Holiday Mini in 2007 but has gotten a lot of use here since then.

Epic fail. Lesson learned.

When stamping on dominoes be sure to press straight down and pull up gently, it's very easy to slip and have to start over Stazon cleaner is the only cleaner that works. Let the ink dry completely before going to the next step. I tried using red stazon and it ran badly after I put the dimensional magic on it.

Color the image with light pressure and without filling in the entire space. Using the blending stump move the color around to fill in the space. Go over areas that you want darker and repeat the blending stump process. You can use Copic markers but they will smear the Stazon so I don't recommend it.

You can add the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic as soon as you're done with your coloring. Place a thin line around the edge of the domino and slowy fill in the center with the Dimensional Magic. I keep a pin handy to poke in the tip of the Dimensional Magic bottle as it gets clogs. This pin is also handy for poking any bubbles that form. Bubbles would be bad.

The bottle suggests a 3 hour drying time. I don't move them for at least an hour then I place them up and out of the way and wait a day to be sure they are really done.

I used the silhouette matchbox shape and a label for the gift box. I was able to get 2 boxes, 7 labels and 2 belly bands from every 8.5 x 11 sheet. I filled the boxes with shredded bills, flyers and ads to give the magnet a little bed to lay on.

I used sticky strips in the boxes and on the belly band because I didn't think other adhesives would be strong enough. I could have used glue and clamps gut sticky strip was so much easier.

The sentiment is from the Star-Studded Season set also from the 2007 Stampin' Up Holiday Mini.

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Change of the Holiday Decor

2011-11-13T20:12:00.001-06:00

We've been a bit busy around here, my apologies for not posting more regularly.

The day before Veteran's Day my son and I made cards for all the veterans at the retirement living center near our house. Because there was no school on Friday and I wasn't working we were able to go deliver them. I think I saw at least a couple of gentlemen tear up. I don't know how it affected my son, he was acting a bit shy, but I was really moved by these veteran's stories.

No trace of Halloween decor here.

This weekend we also finally converted the Halloween wreath to a Fall wreath. We removed the words and the black flowers and pinned on silk fall leaves. Lots of T-pins, lots of leaves.

I overlapped the leaves so the pins were hidden but there were some spots where that just wouldn't work so I used ball pins as the centers of flowers that covered the T-pins. I just love the styrofoam base because you can use pins on it and the orange burlap hides all the holes in the base. A great combo really.

Yellow ball pin as the center of a flower hides the pin below.

almost FREE PAPER

2011-11-01T11:10:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but I have to watch all the pennies lately so I am making an effort to USE IT UP. Those bananas that have turned to color of last year's Halloween chocolates are going into pancake batter tonight. The bits of paper that may have gone in the garbage before are being used in projects more and more.

Today's card features a couple of trees that were made from the scrap of paper I used to clean off a paint brush. Notice the big haphazard strokes. But the really cool bit is the paper they are mounted on: paper packaging from a light bulb, it's lightweight, corrugated and the right color. Awesome.

So was the paper free with the light bulb purchase OR did I get some really cool paper with bonus light bulbs? I guess it depends when you're asking.

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

How to make a Convertible Halloween Wreath

2011-10-18T01:49:00.000-05:00

and Connect with your Kid.

Step 1. Turn off the Television.
Nothing kills a kid's concentration, or a joint creative project, like a television blaring in the background. There isn't a show on television more important or interesting than your kid, just turn it off.

Step 2. Gather your Supplies.

         14" Styrofoam Wreath Form
         A couple of yards of orange Burlap
         Mod Podge (outdoor)

         Hot Glue Gun
         Hot Glue Gun Helpers (if you don't have these tools use a bit of tin foil and the erasure side of a pencil)
         heavy duty cardboard - thick cereal box works well
         T-pins
         Crop-o-dile or other hole punch
         Pencil
         Silk Flowers (we found inexpensive black roses with silver glitter on them at Micheal's)
         Silhouette (or a pair of scissors and some alpha stickers)
         Adhesive
         Twine or ribbon
         Picture hanging

Step 3. Cover the Wreath Form.
         We got burlap because ribbon, even on sale, was a bit too expensive. We cut it into 2" strips and wrapped it around the form. We added a bit of Mod Podge Outdoor to the form every few inches to adhere the burlap. The ends were pinned down with T-pins while the Mod Podge was drying.

Step 4. Create a Floral Addition
         I didn't want to have to make a whole new wreath for Thanksgiving. I wanted to be able to switch out the Halloween decorations for a fall/Thanksgiving feeling fairly easily so we made a floral addition.
         We traced a portion of the wreath on a piece of sturdy cardboard and cut it out. Then pushed T-pins through the cardboard at the ends. We used the smaller end of the Crop-o-dile to punch holes in the cardboard, cut the roses off the wire. We put a glob of hot glue around the holes and put the rose's stem through the holes. We turned the cardboard over, bent the stem down to the cardboard and adhered with more hot glue.
         While using the hot glue we discovered a great way to make spider webbing.

Step 4a. Make Spider Webbing

Step 5. Make Banner
   I let my son chose the words and font for the banner. He chose "BOO!" "EEK!" for the words and we cut the letters, face and banner pieces out of long-retired Stampin' Up patterned paper with the Silhouette. If you don't have a Silhouette or Cricut you can cut out the banner pieces with scissors and use alpha stickers for the lettering. We used regular glue on the paper and googly eyes
         Put a T-pin in the back of the form but don't push it in all the way. Wind the twine around the post of the pin a few times then push the pin into the form pinching the twine between the form and the top of the T-pin. Pull the twine across the front of the wreath where you want the banner to be and repeat the T-pin winding process on the back of the wreath. Repeat as many times and you like keeping in mind the size of your banner pieces.
          We used hot glue on the banner pieces but any adhesive will work.

Step 6. Adhere Floral add on
Push the pins on the back of the floral add on after your banner has been placed on the wreath.

Step 7. Get ready to hang
We adhered a sawtooth picture hanger to the back of the wreath by pushing T-pins into the holes on the hanger. Makes it easy to move the hanger if it's poorly positioned too.

Step 8. Hang and admire
I don't really have to explain this step do I?

After Halloween we will take the Halloween banner and flower add on off and add Thanksgiving decorations to the wreath.

Supplies

Styrofoam Wreath Form	Burlap - Orange	Mod Podge - Outdoor	Hot Glue Gun
Hot Glue Gun Helper	T Pins	Crop-a-dile	Silhouette SD
Sawtooth Hanger

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be
delivered to your door.

"Painting" with Copics

2011-10-07T12:13:00.000-05:00

The Rock Star Rosie Benefit was a great success and Katemade Designs was one of the most successful vendors. There were about 500 in attendance between visitors and volunteers.

I have been trying to update the website but my computer is not liking Dreamweaver or Flash for the last few days, crashing before pages can even be opened let alone changed. I couldn't sleep last night and tried again when I got up at 3:30. When the programs refused to open again I turned to creating without pixels.

I pulled out a canvas board and a paint pen and started drawing. I only have a few paint pens, a think black, a white and 2 shades of green, but I wanted to use other colors for the leaves and didn't want to clean the desk and dig out the regular paints so I tried ink as a watercolor wash. It barely colored the board. You can see the pale purple in the bottom center. I then turned to Copics to paint the leaves and WOW.

Copics reacted with the paint from the pen and allowed for some really nice shading. When coloring on cardstock it's best to make small circles, which is how I would use crayons, to maintain a wet line and consistent color. Last night I used the brush tip more like a brush on the canvas board than I do when I am coloring on cardstock. I really liked the process and am pretty happy with the results too. My son asked if he could HAVE the art work for his room.

So what do you think?
Have you ever used Copics on canvas? Have you ever used Copics markers like they were paintbrushes?


The particulars: Paper: Canvas board; Colorant: Paint pens and Copics

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Rock Star Rosie Benefit countdown 2 days

2011-09-29T18:58:00.002-05:00

The last several months I have been working on a benefit for a special little girl with brain cancer. We met Rosie last year when she and my son were preparing for their first communions. Rosie and her family have been raising funds for cancer research and Children's Memorial Hospital for years and now it is their turn.

In two days the Rock Star Rosie Benefit will be underway. I'm looking forward to the massage, the cake walk, the minute to win it games and the raffles. Oh my goodness there are some awesome baskets ready for silent auction and raffles. Last count there were over 180 and still more to wrap. Baskets include weekends in Chicago, golf outings, wine tasting parties, spa packages, fine jewelry, sports memorabilia, and lots more.

I will be there selling Katemade Designs with my friend Ginny from Goo Studio who will be selling her beautiful hand crafted earrings.
Other vendors include:

Tastefully Simple • Usborne Books and More! • Tupperware • Premier Designs (Jewelry) • Arbonne •
Discovery Toys • Dragons2Daisies • LucyLoopers (Custom Hair Accessories) • Thirty One • Gold Canyon Candles • R & R Massage • Mario Tricocci

I'm really looking forward to meeting all of Rosie's fans and the party that has been planned for Saturday. I hope you can join us. Friday is the last chance to purchase advanced tickets by going to Research4Rosie tickets can be purchased at the event too.

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Christmas Card Production has started

2011-09-18T09:59:00.001-05:00

I feel so ahead of the Christmas card curve this year.

I generally start my Christmas card production in November. Almost too late if you are sending a lot of them - I don't so it's about right for me. But this year I have started already.

Each year I allow myself one new Christmas stamp or set. I have a lot and need to reign in the spending but one new one doesn't feel like too much of a splurge.

Last week I pulled out this sweet partridge tree stamp, last year's one stamp, from Stampendous inked it up and just played with my Copics. I LOVE the results. So I will be making several of these cards. I'm learning a lot about how to get the most out of my Copics, following directions in the Copic Coloring Guide by Colleen Schaan and Marianne Walker.

My son and I were in Micheal's last week and they had an end cap of Christmas stamps. There were several designs I would have loved to make cards with but the budget, limits of space and common sense said "stick with only one" so I called in the expert. I chose 3 I liked the most and asked my son to choose his favorite from that small selection. He chose the stamps that looked like children in a Christmas play. A wise choice. I have stamped that angel's face on numerous bits of scrap to make tiny gift tags. Those tags will be extras for those who buy cards from me at the Rock Star Rosie Benefit in two (2) weeks. I can't believe it's only two weeks away.

To learn more about Rosie go to Research4Rosie.com. If you would like to help spread the word about the benefit please send your friends to Rosie's site or post the flyer in your church or place of work.The flyer is available on Rosie's web site.

Partridge Tree by Stampendous

Copic Coloring Guide

Copic Marker Set

InLinkz.com

Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

2011-09-11T19:50:00.000-05:00

Some days are for action.
Some days are for reaction.
Some days are for reflection.

Today was the former.

It was quiet.
It was solemn.
It was sad.

Today was not just about the anniversary of tragedy.

It was about recognizing what has been lost,
and what remains.

It was remembering that as a society, as a nation, as people
our best comes out when we are going through our worst.

It was about reflecting on how we live today.
It was about reflecting on the choices we make each day.
It was about reflecting on how we act and react toward one another.

Peace,

Wishing it were all FREE.

2011-09-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

I like the word FREE. Sounds nice doesn't it. No worries. No cost. No obligations.

Well several paper crafting bloggers are sharing codes to get a FREE trial at InLinkz Link Manager. I have seen the sites of the beta testers, Krisina Werner and Jennifer McGuire specifically, and loved the look of relevant links all neatly lined up below their beautiful projects. I used one of their codes and thought I would try this nifty new tool for myself.

Krisina Werner's video tutorial was incredibly helpful, making it easy to get started. I don't have a beautiful project today so I thought I would link to some items on my wish list. Admittedly I copied one of Kristina's links because it is just that cool. So here it is my first InLinkz link grid.

Some of these things will probably never make it into my collection as the budget is tighter than ever. But I can dream and save up for some of these things. So here is the question - Which of these items would YOU like to have and why?

Music Background Stamp from Hero Arts	Fabulous Flourish Stamp Hero Arts	Alpha Pattern Stamp from Studio Calico	Mindy's Zoo Stamps from Autumn Leaves
Banneriffic Stamps by Lawn Fawn	Lunar Lights Stamps from Lawn Fawn	Critters on the Farm Stamps by Lawn Fawn	Say Cheese Stamps from Lawn Fawn
i-Top Tool from Imaginesce	Copic Marker Set	Silhouette CAMEO electronic cutting tool	Vagabond Sizzix Machine by Tim Holtz

Happy Crafting,

Recycling postage stamps on cards

2011-09-04T01:43:00.000-05:00

In 1992 I worked in an office that received entries for a sweepstakes. There were a LOT of entries and so a LOT of postage stamps. I thought the wildflower stamps were especially pretty and saved them to decoupage a desk set for my mom. I saved the rest for other craft projects.

I soaked the glue off all the stamps, organized them by them or color and put them in boxes and envelopes until I had time and/or inspiration to do another project. This weekend I finished several sets of cards using those old postage stamps. Each set contains 6 cards with different color bases and each card has 6 postage stamps. I had enough wildflower stamps to make 6 sets. Sensing a theme here.

I used repositionable tape and my xyron to make the stamps into stickers. The process was a combination the perfect alignment tutorial and the my xyron tips found here. I lined up the stamps using a see through ruler and the sentiment was lined up using a stamp-a-majig so that each card has exactly the same layout.

I will be selling these sets at the Rock Star Rosie Benefit on October 1st. You purchase tickets online and find out all about a special little girl who is fighting brain cancer by going to Research4Rosie.com. Come out and get a closer look at these sets and the 300+ other cards I'll be selling to benefit Rosie.

Happy Crafting,

Katemade Designs looks so official now

2011-08-30T11:27:00.000-05:00

I will be vending at the Rock Star Rosie Benefit on October 1 and need a way to store/showcase my cards, so this weekend I got out the spray paint and got busy. I don't have a signature color like "sky blue pink" or anything so I opted for black to match my card carousel. I painted a wooden cd holder that I found at Goodwill. I would have kept it the natural wood color had it not been for the black china marker price that was on it a couple of times and the stickers, also with prices.

I cut vinyl letters out with my Silhouette and put them on both the long sides. It will look so nice filled with cards. I fit 250 in it before painting and there was still room for a few more.

I've been making cards for several years and they have been sitting in boxes or displayed on shelves. I finally started packaging them up. I stopped at 340 cards when I ran out of clear envelops. I'll begin again when my order arrives.

I'm hoping I can sell a lot of cards at the benefit not just for me but because a portion of sales go to benefit Rosie.

Happy Crafting,

What are YOU doing October 1st?

2011-08-27T17:29:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars for a Night of Fun for the Whole Family
A Benefit for Rock Star Rosie
Saturday, October 1
3:30-8pm
Holy Family Parish
2515 Palatine Rd

Inverness, IL

Food • Games • DJ • Raffles • Silent Auctions
• Kids Crafts • Clowns • Face Painting • Balloon Art •
Vendor Sales • Free Massage • Pampering

Advanced Tickets: Adult $15, Kids $5

For more about Rosie and tickets go to
www.Research4Rosie.com
At the door prices will be: Adults $18.00, Kids (6-14) $7.00, Under 5 – Free.

Come be a Rock Star with Rosie!
————————————

I put together the website for this event and worked on several committees,

plus I will be one of the vendors selling Katemade Designs. I have over 300 cards that need good homes. If you are free come join us.

Happy Crafting,

It's aLIVE!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

I feel like Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein when I say that.

The Rock Star Rosie website is finally LIVE and I am so happy. Go take a look then come back and tell me what you thought of it, what works for you what doesn't. I'd love to get some feedback. Here's the address:

www.research4rosie.com.

I'd also like to ask you all to consider making a donation to the raffles. If you know of a business that could donate something send them the link. Maybe you could donated a set of handmade cards, a piece of handcrafted jewelry, or something else you have made with your own hands. I have looked at your blogs, I know you are all talented crafters. Please consider donating because every little bit counts.

Happy Crafting,

Rocking Dinosaur

2011-06-27T09:33:00.000-05:00

Lately it's all about Rock and Roll. I took a break from working on the Rock Star Rosie website and made a few cards with a rock theme. Most were pink, black and silver like Rosie's new website. After of few of those I went a different direction and made this one. It is by far my favorite.

The particulars: Paper: Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake, Long Retired patterned paper; Stamps: Studio Calico Thank You, Stampendous "Rock Out", My Favorite Things "Little Loveosaurus" Ink: Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi and Bashful Blue for the lettering, Copic Markers to color the image.

Happy Crafting,