Winner, Published, Turkey Cupcakes and a Cake!

 

First I want to announce my winner (that random.org drew) from the OCL blog hop.  Would Ashu93 (Ann Shuman) please come on down. You are the lucky winner of Tree-mendous Love!  Thanks to everyone who left comments.

Published you say? I happen to get this magazine in the mail yesterday: Hmmmm Only reason I would be getting a copy was if I was published. So I sat right down and look what I found:  (top right hand corner)


(bottom right hand corner)  That’s me!!

So last night was my last cake decorating class for the Basic class. We had to bring in a cake already iced, drop flowers if we wished (that we had made a few days before to harden). We learned Ribbon Roses.  I didn’t have a plan on how I was going to decorate it so I just kind of “threw” everything on. Not really how I would have liked it to look but since we made the roses in class, they weren’t hard enough to move if we didn’t like where we placed them. This was my first time making roses!

So here is my finished cake:

Close up of the roses:

So my son’s class is having their Harvest party today. I (for some odd reason other than I’m CRAZY!!) volunteered to bring in cupcakes. now usually I make a cupcake cake with a buttercream transfer but I always ask my kids what THEY want me to make for their class.  Well Benjamin decided no transfer so I found turkey cupcakes online and he liked that idea.  I couldn’t find the exact things that others used so I went with rainbow twizzlers and Vienna Fingers.  

Cupcakes are Cookie Dough Cupcakes.


Here is half of them as I had to make 24!

       Thank you for stopping by!

                   Amber

Look what’s hitting the stands today…

The August issue of Crafts ‘n things!!  So what’s so special about this issue? Oh, nothing much….just I’M IN IT!!  I submitted a project a while back and they accepted it. Take a look:

That cute little art caddy is sitting on my table right now holding my Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps and my few copics.

So run out and grab yourself the issue today and if you live close by, I don’t charge much to autograph the page. LOL  Here is the cover so you know what to look for (shoot this magazine is worth getting for the cover alone… isn’t that bear just too cute!!)

 

        Thanks for stopping by!
                
                   Amber

Published! Cards for Paula and the Sketch!

This will be a long post so please bear with me as I have something to ask of you, my readers.

First I’m going to brag a little on myself. Two years ago I sent in one of my favorite Thomas Kinkade cards to RubberStampMadness in hopes of being published. Never heard a word until this summer! It is in their Nov/Dec/Jan issue.

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This past weekend I did a Stamp Camp for a friend of mine. She wanted a bundle of all occasion cards. I browsed through SCS and mixed cards left and right until I got 7 cards I was happy with to share with the ladies. The camp was actually 2 days as not everyone could make it the first day so I had double the cards for myself.

Now what am I going to do with all these cards you ask? Well back on Sept 23 about 6pm just a few miles from our house, Paula had walked down her driveway to get her mail (on her side of the road)...a pickup pulling a flat trailer (narrow country roads)was coming up the road, the trailer somehow came off the truck, struck Paula head on and stopped in the neighbor’s yard about 100 ft away!!

Paula’s right leg, her tibia and fibula were broken and everything from her knee down was torn away. She also sustained fractures in her back which required screws to be inserted (c4-c7) and (t1-t5). She also had a brain injury at her brain stem.

She has been through quite a bit of surgeries since then and is now breathing on her own during the day. (To read more about her day to day progress, please see My Story) She has 2 young teens and runs the only florist shop in our town. But those bills will be piling up so as a community, we are putting together a dinner and a silent auction to help the family with the cost.

Mom and I have decided to donate a basket of stamped cards and altered (small) items to be auctioned off. So all those double cards I just made this past weekend are going into the basket. And this is where you come in. If you have any cards/small altered items that you’d like to donate for this basket, we’d sure appreciate it! And of course the recipient will end up with the best ever basket!! (please include envelopes with your card) Email me at [email protected] with Cards for Paula in the subject line and I will email you my address as I don’t wish to post it on here. We would like to have all the items by Dec.1st.

Here are the cards from the stamp camp that I am putting in the basket (just realized one is missing!)

inside of card (the stamps used on this card are from Our Craft Lounge – Autumn Garden)



For today’s sketch252 I used two sets from Our Craft Lounge; Giving Thanks and Nuts About You. I used the leaf border from Giving Thanks to make a frame that I colored with prismacolor markers and then cut out completely. It is attached with Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. The squirrel is from Nuts about You and is also attached with Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. The nut border is from Nuts About You and once again I cut it out completely. On the green strip I combined the images from Giving Thanks and Nuts About You and stamped them in Versamark.

Thanks for looking and please consider donating some cards to Paula’s basket. Life can change in the blink of an eye.

Unexpected Exciting News!

Back in '07 I sent in a few cards to a RubberStampMadness for possible publication. They picked up one but not the other. Fast forward to last month and getting an email asking a few question about the lonely card. Much to my surprise they are publishing it in their Holiday Issue.

Yesterday we got the mail and there was an envelope the size of a magazine. I looked at the return address and thought "hmmm they must have changed their names to Vamp Stamp News." But upon looking at it, none of the cards were Christmas like what I was having published. Still puzzled but knowing I had to be in it because why would I get a magazine when I don't subscribe to it......

And there on the Back Cover was my card!! I had sent it in some time last year and never heard a word from them so figured it hadn't been picked up. What a nice surprise that was to get. And here are a few pictures of the magazine with my card.

I've been Published!!

You might remember this post I did back on March 18. Well now I can show you the card that was published! First some background on why I submitted and how.

Now I had made a card for the Limited Supply challenge where we had to use only numbers on our card. (in Oct. '07) Well I don't own number stamps so I came up with the idea to use a fish from Rubbernecker and make him into a number. I picked the number 9 as my nephew's birthday was coming up so being a good Tia (aunt) I made him a birthday card. I masked the little fish until I had a 9 shaped from fish! A little watercoloring with distress reinkers and I was good to go. But then I saw a contest on RubberStampMadness on numbers, and thought why not enter it. So I sent my nephew's birthday card to RSM (and not by email, they like you to send in the actual card), deadline was Nov.15th! Months went by and I never heard a thing. I started kicking myself for not including a SASE so they could send the card back as I figured I hadn't been picked.

March 7th rolled around and I got an email from Galilee saying that "my artwork was chosen to be in the RSM Numbers centerfold (didn't know I was a centerfold, huh?? lol) - issue 160 (July/August 2008)" I think I fell out of my chair!

So now I'm excited to share with you some pictures of my card in the magazine. Go check out RSM and see what themed art they are looking for next. They also except artwork that is not on a specfic theme. So send in your cards, you never know, you just might get published! Just don't forget that SASE!! lol

Issue 160 July/August 2008 (sorry for the flash on the cover)

School of Fish
Amber Hillman of St.Paris, Ohio sent in our final number. "I went way outside my comfort zone," says the artist. "I didn't have any number stamps so I had to come up with a completely different way to get a number stamped on my card."
To make her number 9, Hillman first sketched a light outline of the number on paper. "Then maksing the fish, I stamped him over and over on the outline," she says. "Then masking the bottom fish, I stamped the seaweed twice and once on a piece of white."
She used watercolors with distress inks on them, cut them out and popped up the middle section of seaweed for dimension. More dimension comes from the Crystal Effects she added to the bubbles. "I stamped and cut out one fish and added google eyes to him."
Hillman has been stamping for five years, and used two of her favorite techniques for this project: masking and watercoloring. Although she says she leans towards the number seven being her favorite, this card would be perfect for a nine-year-old's birthday. "Any time I stamp I have fun," Hillman says. "I really enjoyed this challenge because my card turned out exactly how I had envisioned it." (stamp credits: Fish, seaweed- Rubbernecker.)
By Karen Sweeny-Justice

What card?

I highly doubt I will get to make a card today as I need to start sewing Easter dresses for my girls.

But I wanted to share this card with you:

Yes!! I am getting a card published!! First time ever for me so that's why I'm a little excited. It will be in the July/August '08 RubberStampMadness magazine.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you and i promise not to gloat again!