Simon Says Stamp March Card Kit and Challenge

Sorry I've been away for so long! Med school has definitely eaten up most of crafting time, and sleep time. Ah well. I have been playing around with the Simon Says Stamp March 2013 Card kit, and saw that the challenge for this week was green, so I ended up making a card to go with that theme.

The cardstock, washi tape, sentiment, and 2 of the papers of the flower are all from the March SSS card kit found here: http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/servlet/the-54125/Simon-Says-Stamp-clear/Detail

The pink paper is the KI Enchanting Papers collection. I also used the Jenni Bowlin Brown Sugar stamp pad for the sentiment. 

Sorry today's such a short blog. I hope you enjoy, and I promise to be more active once exams are over! 

Best,

~Z

Resin Flowers!

I used resin flowers for the first time yesterday, as a few were included in the August Simon Says Stamp Monthly Kit. I immediately fell in love with them! Now, I can't wait to get my hands on some more. Of course, cost-conscious-me wants to make my own.

I remember that Kelly Marie Alvarez from Lawn Fawn once had a video about making resin flowers, so I went to look for the etsy store she recommended, Mold Muse, and after much debating (there are currently 254 different molds on the store), I have narrowed down my immediate wishlist to three:

1. A small Sakura flower
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62694052/mold-sakura-flower-cabochon-flower-mould?ga_search_query=sakura

2. An assortment of roses
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74137943/flower-cabochon-mold-roses-asst-sizes

3. A large Chrysanthemum
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66060103/chrysanthemum-pom-pom-cabochon-flexible?ref=v1_other_1
OR
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74138040/chrysanthemum-cabochon-flexible-mini?ref=v1_other_1

However, there are also a couple of others on my extended list:
4. Large Sakura flower
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76250647/large-sakura-flower-cabochon-flexible

5.a large hibiscus flower
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/98168218/large-hibiscus-flower-silicone-mold?ref=v1_other_2

6. small Chrysanthemum flowers
http://www.etsy.com/listing/65526981/chrysanthemum-mum-cabochon-3-cavity

7. Orchid (small)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/81300726/orchid-cabochon-flexible-silicone-mold?ga_search_query=orchid

8. Lotus
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76231007/lotus-flower-flexible-mold-mould-for

9. Cabbage Rose
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74138210/large-cabbage-rose-flexible-silicone?ref=v1_other_2

See what I mean? I could go on and on...

Haul: Blog edition: Chinese Stamps!

Hey all!
My video camera isn't working, so I decided to do a blog haul instead. I've been trying to be good about not spending TOO much, but it was my birthday recently, and I decided to give myself a birthday present. So, this post and the next post will be covering the many stamps that I bought.

I've been trying to find some good Chinese stamps (stamps about China/ with Chinese content, not stamps made in China), and it has been quite difficult. Most of the Made in USA stamp companies seem to think that Asia is one enormous glob of homogenization of culture, which means that stamps with kimonos and Japanese temples are tagged as "Chinese". Others are Chinese, but have that racist Fu Manchu-style that I shudder to look at. Seriously, in today's society, why would you go about offending people? It's not 1882 anymore. There are plenty of Asians around who can explain in words large and small the differences between all the countries in Asia. No one seems to mix up France, England, and Germany, so why are the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese mixed up?


Anyways, I'll end my rant here. I did find some very pretty, culturally appropriate stamps, and here they are:
1. The Friends Cling Stamps by Hero Arts

2. Nihao stamp by My Cute Stamps ( I love that the characters are actually in simplified form! I can't stand traditional, but then I that might just be that I am too lazy to look up what they correspond to in Simplified.)

Finally, I ordered a third set from Simon Says Stamp, but it hasn't come yet. I will post it when I get it! 

In other stamps, I ordered a bunch of Lawn Fawn Stamps, and another My Cute Stamps set:

Owlways Friends by My Cute Stamps:

Happy Stamping and Creating, everyone! 

Pia Overgaard: Lily Pad Cards' Blog Hop

Pia Overgaard: Lily Pad Cards' Blog Hop Ah, yes, here is a giveaway, too, though somewhat last minute, as Pia is closing the comments soon!

How To: Make your own acrylic blocks!

I am all about saving money, and as more experienced scrappers have warned me, scrapbooking/stamping/cardmaking can become a VERY expensive hobby VERY quickly. Therefore, I was trying to think of ways that I could save money.

I started out with only one acrylic block that came with my Inkinado stamps from Walmart, a 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 block, doesn't fit my larger stamps. I found an article on Curbly on how to make my own acrylic blocks, and I just had to try it out. My dad is a bit of a DIY person, so he always has random materials around. I dug around our garage, and sure enough, we had several sheets of acrylic material, about 1 1/2 inch thick.

I drew several sizes that I'd thought I'd need onto some card stock (2 x 2, 3 x 3, 3 x 4, 5 x 5, 5 x 8), and then I traced them on to the acrylic.

I had my dad help me saw them, since I don't always saw straight. We used a hand saw, and it sawed quite cleanly. There was none of the splintering that other DIY-ers had warned about.

Finally, I filed and sanded the edges. The edges were dull and opaque, which was the only drawback to making the blocks myself. I heard that passing the edge over open flame would help to clear up the edges, but when I tried it, it did not give me the result that I was expecting.

Heating it also makes it give off a horrible smell, so I decided I would rather have dull, opaque edges than the awful smell. Finally, I ran the blocks under some water to get rid of all of the acrylic dust.

And thus, here we are: a set of nice, clear, (cheap!) acrylic blocks all ready for stamping! (Excuse my messy desk, though!)

Link to Curbly directions:

http://www.curbly.com/users/diy-maven/posts/7078-diy-acrylic-stamping-blocks-zero-dollars

Another giveaway!

KatieQuarks blog, also from the Lily Pad blog hop, is giving a way a stamp set from Stamps of Life. Check her out at: 

http://katiesquarks.blogspot.ca/

Lily Pad Cards Blog Hop, Reliving Tomorrow Giveaways!

I've just been accepted to medical school! It's exciting news, but it also means that I've been so busy that I haven't had large chunks of time to work on crafting as I usually would have. Instead, I've been reading other crafters' sites, and jotting down inspiration for in my notebook, for when I have more time to craft (like this summer...).

Anyways, right now, Lily Pad Cards is having a grand celebration for their first year, and there is a HUGE blog hop of many of the top names in stamping/cardmaking. To start,  go to:
http://www.lilypad.inlinkz.com/2012/04/01/lily-pad-cards-1st-birthday-blog-hop

I was following the blogs around, when I came upon this site:
Reliving Tomorrow

I love the cute card, and the blog author is also having a give away in celebration of HER blog's birthday! Check it out on the link above!

Best,
~ZT