To Live in Exciting Times...

Its been an interesting ride this past month. Shortly after starting this blog and setting up my new domain, changes within my family happened and I had to focus there. My last post here was literally the last time I had a chance to sit down and design/create something for myself to share.

What were these changes that so affected me? I'm on my way to becoming a mommy. I have a 3-year-old cousin who was placed in the foster system towards the end of May. Since early June, my husband and I were doing what we could to get him placed with us. It was a very frustrating and upseting time because due to the economy a lot of social workers were being laid-off so it was difficult to get in contact with people, and there were periods of time when children didn't even have a social worker assigned to them.

But on July 2nd, the judge ordered placement with my husband and I and we've had him in our lives since then. We didn't have any children of our own (not counting our cats :)) so we were having to learn how to be parents. The first time I heard him call me mommy melted my heart.

So with that being said, things have started to call down (a bit). They will be picking back up again because we're going to adopt and will need to go to classes and such, but I'm ready. :) I've also finally had a chance to sit down and design again!

In fact, I have a workshop scheduled for later this afternoon! I will post pictures of the projects I came up with early this evening once I return from the workshop.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. Its going to be an interesting ride, and I'm thankful to have this outlet to help me through.

Happy Stamping!
~Raberta

Gift Card Exploding Box

Hello Stampers!

I'd like to share with you an exploding box I've done altered to fit a gift card!

I got the idea for this box based on one that was offered in a magazine. The owner of a local scrapbooking store shared the idea with me and I did my best to recreate the box. The directions weren't very easy to follow, and some of the demonsions were very off!

So I took notes as I attempted to make my own version and will be posting a tutorial I've created so that you too can make this box, but without the bumps I hit. :)

The sample in the magazine used bugs and such on strips of transparancy sheets. I attempted to duplicate this with flowers, but I was not entirely happy with the results.

You can see, based on the shadows from my pictures how some of the flowers kind of float. I may attempt this box again and try another approach with the transparancy strips to see if I can come up with something I'm happy with. For now, my tutorial will leave the decorating of the insides to you, but I will share the information from the magazine article in case you would like to try this for yourself. If you figure it out, I'd love it if you shared. :)

I decided to use this box for my cousin's upcoming 18th birthday, after completing this adorable box, I stepped away for a few minutes to call my sister to discuss plans for the party.

When I returned, one of my kitties decided to leave his own mark on the box. I guess he wanted to leave his own birthday wish. :) Thankfully he gnawed in such a way that I was able to fix the tips and my cousin loved the box.

This box used the Tropical Party and Island Oasis DSP from the Summer mini Catalog. The Summer Mini is good through August 31st so head on over to my online shop and order yours today!

I hope you enjoyed this share! Please be sure to check back soon for the tutorial to make your own Gift Card Exploding Box!

~Raberta Gannon
Sacramento, CA

Chic Fleece Flower Pins - Stampin' Up!

Hello fellow stampers!

Today I'm sharing with you an adorable flower pin I made on Friday using our Stampin' Up! Big Shot, the Circle #2 and Island Floral die-cuts.

Isn't it cute? I can just see making a bunch of these for my neices! It was really easy to make and I plan to make more of these in a few weeks when I replenish my supplies.

For this pin, the SU! products used were the Big Shot (#113439), Standard Cutting Pads (which come with the machine), Circles #2 die-cut (#114526) and the Island Floral die-cut (#118871). I used the Summer Sun corduroy button, however I'm sad to say this line is retiring. Be sure to visit my online store to see if there are any left! But don't worry, in just 8 days the new catty will be released and I'm sure you'll be happy with some of the new offerings!!

Would you like to make you're own flower pin? Well then, check out this great tutorial by Tami White!

Last Chance List for 2009 posted

Its June 1st and that means its time for us to prepare to say goodbye to stamp sets and accessories to make room for all the new and wonderful things that Stampin' Up! will be adding to their new Catalog! The 2010-2011

Please take a moment to visit the Last Chance Page for all the latest information. The retiring accessories list will be updating daily and all items will be removed from the Online Store as supplies run out.

Welcome to Inkabella!

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to really work on my business this year. I have to admit that I haven't been moving very fast the first half of the year, but then I've had a lot going on. My husband and I are in the process of adopting my cousin. My uncle is no longer able to care for his children and so rather than letting him go into the foster system, my husband and I decided to take him in. We hadn't planned on children for at least another year so this is a big life changer for us.

I have great plans for the 2nd half of the year, even though Convention is not one of them. My cousin needs us right now and so its much better that I stay home this year and settle him in.

To start things off, I decided to name my "company" Inkabella and registered the domain, Inkabella.com. Unfortunately, the blogger name was already taken, so for the blog I went with Inkabella Designs. Until I decide how I wish to utilize my new domain, it will point here, to my blog.

I look forward to sharing many ideas and creating some lasting friendships as we explore the wonderful world of Crafts and all that Stampin' Up! has to offer!

Shoebox swap and retired colors

I'll be heading out the door momentarily to a downline meeting where we'll be doing a shoebox swap. I've been struggling for nearly two weeks trying to decide what card I will do.

It was literally last night around 4:30 pm that a I decided on a layout and a stamp set. However, thats as far as I got and it was a couple hours later that I came up with the card below.

All colors in this card are retiring at the end of June this year. The only color used here that will remain is Pumpkin Pie.

Here is a list of what I used for this card:

Stamp Set: Circle Circus

Ink: Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie

Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter, Whisper White

Die-Cut: SU! Top Note

Ribbon: 1/4" Grosgrain in Sage Shadow

I'm off to share! Happy Stamping!

Ceramic Coasters

I have a craft faire coming up (my first ever!) and I decided to try and make some ceramic coasters. I have been wanting to use my Medallion stamp and so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

I stamped these ceramic tiles using close to cocoa craft ink. I heat set the ink by baking them in the oven for about 30 minutes.

What do you think?

Free Technique DVDs Special Offer

FREE TECHNIQUE DVDS SPECIAL OFFER

Special Offer Dates: April 1-May 31, 2010 (or while supplies last)

Special Offer Details: From April 1-May 31, join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator and receive two FREE technique DVDs.

Free Technique DVD Details

	Description	Retail Value
	Workshop Wow DVD 2008-2009 (140 min.) Includes 19 demonstrator presentations of "WOW" techniques. Item # 118082	$24.95
	Workshop Wow 2007-2008 DVD (117 min.) Includes 18 demonstrator presentations of "WOW" techniques for use in preparing for workshops. Item #113106	$17.47
Total Value	Over 250 minutes of stamping and paper crafting ideas!	$42.42

*DVDs are in English only

Contact me today to learn more!

Its a Color Renovation!

Stamping Up! announced on Tuesday that they were revamping their color families. This would mean we'd be saying a fond farewell to a number of colors. This has sparked many many discussions on all the online communites I belong to.

I wanted a couple days before posting this to see how the "hype" among my fellow demonstrators would pan out. I've been reading different forums discussing Stampin' Up!'s announcement and everyone is reacting on both sides of the spectrum ... from VERY upset to down right "almost peeing my pants" excited. I have to admit, I'm in the middle. I'm very excited about the changes, but also a little disappointed at the loss of some of my favorite colors.

Thanks to Amy for making and sharing these great images.

Late Night Stampers - Challenge 64

Today begins a new challenge over at the Yahoo Group, Late Night Stampers. This week is Challenge 64 - Sympathy Cards.

Most of my day today was spent running errands for family. But I was able to work a few minutes here and there to create this card. Not my best work, but I'm happy with it.

If you're not a part of Late Night Stampers, you really should visit and join the group. Its filled with a lot of great people, both demonstrators and non-demonstrators. If you are already a part of the group and haven't done your own card yet for this challenge, what are you waiting for!? :)

Happy Stamping!

Eggshell Easter Basket

Its been a while, but I found the time to get some craft time in. Challenge #63 for the Late-Night Stampers Yahoo Group is "Anything BUT a Card". So I made an Easter Basket. But not just any easter basket, I made it look like the bottom half of an egg.

This is accomplished using a 8x8 sized sheet of cardstock. I've considered creating a tutorial for this if others are interested. I'll try to work on this tomorrow and get it up soon.

I hope you enjoy my basket! Happy Stamping!

A use for retired cardstock

I'm doing a fundraiser at work for March for Babies. We'll be having a used-book sale on Wednesday and so I decided to make some bookmarks to sell in hopes of raising some more cash. These were inspired by my upline, Teri Wells, who shared the idea with us as a past stamp camp. these were made using the Bigshot and the Table Settings Bigz Die-cut.

I also felt this was a great way to use up some of my retired cardstock. Handsome Hunter is still current, but Cool Caribbean has been retired for a couple years now. I used the Very Vintage jumbo wheel on each.

These are magnetic bookmarks, as seen in the bottom picture. They were decently easy to make (just tedious at the volume I was cutting, running through the bigshot and then running the wheel over). I really hope these are a hit.

If you're at all interested in helping out, please stop by and sponsor me for the walk on April 24th. Visit Marchforbabies.org and see if there is a walk near you!

Finally ... a post!

After a long while, I finally created something!



This card was inspired by Wendy Hawkinson. The file is an animated gift so that you can see the inside and outside (Hopefully it works). I'm still learning how to use a photo box I've made to try and take better photos.

Enjoy and Happy Stamping!