Sites of the week

Have you been checking out the new release sneak peeks on the Verve blog? If so, you probably caught this card using the new You Rock set from me yesterday…

Here’s a card using the new Starstruck set…

There are several other sets being released tonight {check out the Verve blog for more peeks}. Tonight is the release party on Splitcoast in the Verve forum starting at 9 ET. If you have ever been to one of the parties, you know it’s lots-o-fun and Julee likes giveaways. See you tomorrow for another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY

Happy {rainy} Monday!

I have been getting a few comments and emailed questions in regards to the Slice machine, so I thought that I would address the subject here.

The main comment/question that has been popping up is…
I have a Cricut that I have barely used. The Slice looks fun, but is it worth it? I am afraid it will end up gathering dust like my Cricut.

Cricut vs. Slice…

I have a Cricut, too. I certainly don’t use it as much as I thought that I would. Tony is probably scowling right now, as I sent him out at 5am on VERY blustery Black Friday to Wal-Mart {a.k.a. The Devil’s Lair} to grab the last one…literally. While I certainly am grateful and truly appreciate the efforts of my dear sweet loving and doting husband, this machine is not made for the everyday card maker. Why?…The Cricut is big and bulky, you have to replace the sticky mat when it loses it’s sticky and the cartridges are expensive. Most of those cartridges only come with images and unless you are doing a themed set, you probably won’t use all of them. What I do like about the Cricut is that you can cut larger images. I especially like this on the Bags, Tags and Boxes cartridge. You can also {inexpensively} purchase a deep cutting blade {don’t forget to get the housing with it, too} that will cut through chipboard. There are 3 Cricut machines. I have the original Personal Cutter Machine, but the Create and Expression machines can cut even larger items. I think this is so cool, but really don’t have a need for it. You can read more about the Cricut machine HERE on the Provo Craft site.

I have used the Slice at least 10x as much as I have used my Cricut. Although I am not ready to ditch my Cricut, because of the functions I mentioned that I liked, I do like my Slice a bit more. Why? First, I love that EVERY design card comes with a font. I love alpha stickers like Thickers, but I always seem to run out of a letter and that drives me CRA-ZEEE! The images seem more up-to-date and I think that there is quite a bit of versatility among the images on each card. The Slice machine is light and compact, making it easy to take with you. It comes with a 6×6 glass cutting mat, but I ended up getting the larger 12×12 mat because it was more convenient. Instead of having to purchase a new mat when it loses it’s stickiness, just clean {kind of a pain, but not too bad} and apply more re-positionable adhesive. The major downside that I have found with the Slice is that it won’t cut through anything thicker than cardstock, and very thick cardstock can even be difficult to cut through. Bazzill and Prism papers are very friendly with the machine. I use SU! and PTI cardstock a lot, too, but sometimes have to do some extra trimming because of the thickness. The new design cards also offer shadow and mirroring functions, which I love! There are 2 Slice machines, but the only true difference in the machines is the color. I have the original and love it. Now there is a limited edition pink one that comes with 2 design cards and supports breast cancer research. You can read more about the Slice machine HERE on the Making Memories site.

I hope this helps those of you that were wondering about this. To sum it all up…YES YES YES!!!…the Slice is worth it. I am so happy I have it and wouldn’t give it up. Like I said, I am not ready to ditch the Cricut because of the functions I love on it, but if I had to make a choice, it would DEFINITELY be the Slice.

Happy {football season} Saturday! I am happy that football season is here. We have plans to have a couple friends and their kiddos over tonight to watch the Oklahoma game {no comments from the peanut gallery on last week’s performance, please!}. BOOMER SOONER! Ellie is learning early to love the Sooners and dislike the Longhorns. Whenever she sees a longhorn on someone’s car, she says “Ewwww, gross, it’s a longhorn.” We have told her that she is not allowed to say that to people, though. Instead she just says, “Boomer Sooner” to them. The grocery store sells both Sooner and Longhorn gear and they happen to be right next to each other and she likes to remind me, “Mama, don’t touch that orange stuff!” LOL! She cracks me up!

It’s been a super busy week! I am working at the preschool and now at the local scrapbook store. Yes, I am a bit crazy taking on both of these ventures in the 2nd half of my pregnancy. Fortunately, both a very lenient employers and neither is a terribly stressful job. There was a crazy moment in my preschool class on Thursday where one of the boys decided to inspect his business in the middle of class. The words couldn’t come fast enough…”Put it back!” LOL! Oh my, these kids are prepping me for baby boy del Muro!! BTW…we are still trying to figure out a name and welcome any {well, most…LOL!} suggestions. We both like more “regular” names as opposed to the trendy names {like all those ending in -den these days}. Ellie had her 3 year well check this past week, too. We have to get a Physical Therapy evaluation later this month to check on her lack jumping “skills” and some general clumsiness. Poor kid! The doc said that clumsiness can be genetic {I had to giggle at that!, and even though I wouldn’t consider either Tony or I graceful, I wouldn’t go as far as clumsy. We’ll see what the PT has to say. I don’t think that it’s anything major. The pedatrician even said that it doesn’t necessarily seem like anything is wrong, but something isn’t quite right. Grrrrrreat! I guess it could be worse though! On top of that, she has an umbilical hernia that may need to be corrected in the next couple of years if it doesn’t go back in on it’s own. Poor baby!!

Blah, blah blah…I need to get on with the sketchy-sketch post! Here is the sketch for this week…

My scrappy card using die cuts from the new Spook Alley Slice cartridge and BoBunny paper…

Gretchen, this month’s Designer of the Month, created this ROCKIN’ card…

Want a few more samples? Check out my Sketch For You To Try Sisters…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

Carole is currently taking a leave of absence, but should be back soon!

If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use the keyword SFYTT. I can’t wait to see all the creations!

I mentioned the other day that I am desperate to stamp “just because.” Well, yesterday I did it! I got some new MFT stamps that I recently ordered and I wasn’t about to let them collect any dust, so I got crackin’ and made this card {can you tell I am in a Halloween-y mood?}…

A couple of detail shots…

If some of you are scratching your head saying “Didn’t you used to design for them and don’t you do pub work for them?”…you are right. I just did this card out of the blue, though. No pub call, no submission request, no…nothing! Can you tell I feel a little liberated. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE being on DTs and it really doesn’t seem like “work,” but I have done it with all my heart for so long that I actually think that I forgot the “just because” stuff. It feels good. What’s even better, I really like how this card came out

As for the deets…
I started off with a 5 x 5 base created from PTI Vintage Cream cardstock and then layered it with Bo Bunny orange on orange polkas matted with black. That panel and the main image panel have stitching around all four edges. The main image panels’ edges are also sponged {before I stitched}. The 2 big clouds and the girl, both from the Too Cute To Spook set, are popped up on dimensionals from Jody. The sentiment panel is Prism Intense Kiwi and is punched with a border punch from EK Success {gotta love those Michael’s coupons!}. As for my finishing touches, I added Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles rhinestones, punched stars and a PTI button with twine tied in a bow on the back side {love the way that looks!}.

On a side note, I want to thank everyone that supported me on THIS POST about not supporting the SU! changes. Even if you don’t…that’s OK!! I appreciate that we all can have different opinions on the subject. I know that some demos don’t believe that it is anyone’s business what is happening on the demo side. I have to disagree. Just think of any company out there. Don’t you want to know what their practices are and don’t you want to support those that you agree with? There are other companies within this industry {which will remain unnamed} that I don’t agree with either. Guess what?…they don’t get my business. If you want to think of it like politics, I guess that is kinda what it’s like. Some get my vote, some {very few} don’t. Let’s just keep this a happy and friendly industry to play in!
Several of you have emailed me personally and I have not had time to respond to each one. I have read all of them, though. I cringe every time I open an email titled “SU changes” or the like, out of fear that I am going to get a brutal lashing. So far, no lashings. …thank you!

Don’t know if I will be posting tomorrow, but you know I will be back on Saturday with another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY.

I finally had a few free moments to stamp this morning. I knew I wanted to play along with the sketch challenge that Leigh has for TCP Tuesday, so I broke my TCP Halloween set {Fright Night} and got to “work.” Here is the sketch that Leigh created…

Here is my card…

Detail shot…

The gingham paper is part of the goodies that I picked up this past weekend while on a little shopping adventure. It’s by Reminisce from their Autumn Forest line. This is actually the reverse side of a 12 x 12 sheet that has really cute pears on the other side. The buttons are all from TCP’s embellishment line and can be found HERE. Another sample, along with all the TCP Tuesday deets can be found on Leigh’s blog. Happy stamping and good luck!