Half Way Through

Wow, today marks the turn of the year, because tomorrow the year 2013 will be half way over!  Its amazing how time flies by when you're not thinking about it...so for the next six months let's vow to accomplish as much as we can while enjoying every single minute we are blessed with.

Now, allow me a moment to congratulate the winner of my Bonus Challenge, which was "Name That Dog".  

Although I didn't get very many entries we did get enough to continue with the challenge and to draw a winner.  Thanks to everyone that did participate and send me an email.  It warms my heart to know that you remembered (or took time to look it up) my four-legged friend's name.

She is a rescue dog I found when she was only 9 nine weeks old and weighed a whooping 4.2 lbs.  Today she weighs 9.8 lbs., stands 6 inches tall and about 8 inches long.  She is a Yorkie-Poo, which is why the Yorkie breeder didn't want her.

I am so glad I decided to take her although I was in search of a full-breed Yorkshire.  She has been my companion from day one and I love her dearly.  She is my best friend and I would swear that at times we have conversations that only she and I understand (lol).  Her personality is so unique and she amazes me with her smartness.  If she were human we would say she is a quick study.  Fun, laughter and joy is what she brings to me, and I compensate her with lots of hugs, kisses and belly rubs.  We have a great relationship.

I don't have a card to share so let me go ahead and share with you the winner of my Bonus challenge and announce that July's Challenge is now posted.  Click here or click the tab above to go there and play.

I know, I keep chatting....the winner who Named that dog...is

!!!!!!!! CARMEN !!!!!!!

Congratulations Carmen.  For correctly identifying my dog's name as 

GIZZI

You have won a $20 gift certificate to the store of your choice.

Email Mema with your store choice name and to claim your prize.
(please ensure the store offers gift certificates in the appropriate denomination)

Thanks to everyone who played with us for our bonus challenge and to everyone that continues to participate in my monthly challenges.  This month we are celebrating our country by showing our Patriotism or you can opt to use the colors

RED, WHITE and BLUE

The challenge opens tomorrow and we are all excited to see what you will create to show your patriotism.  Enter by clicking the tab above or click here.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

Hugs ~Lesia

Stay safe and be blessed where ever you are.

June Challenge - Just Words

This post will remain at the top of my blog until the challenge closes!

Hello my lovely followers! I hope everyone had a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend and have survived this week so far. 
I managed to visit all the participants in May’s Bingo challenge and the talent is unbelievable. I tried to leave comments but if you have "word verification" turned on I may not have made it through the verification.  My grand-daughters even had a few comments about the talent.

With my girls encouragement I have agreed that for June's challenge we will have possibly three winners, but lets find out who is our BINGO winner.
(drumroll please) 

Random.org was used to randomly draw the winner and the winner is .....

Entry #19

 CONGRATULATIONS MOSHIE

You have won an e-certificate from Saturated Canary.

Please contact me at Lesia.cook@gmail.com to claim your prize

 (prizes must be claimed within 7 days of this post or winner will forfeit all prizes; claim your prize by 06/08/2012)

Now it’s time to jump forward to our challenge for June!  This challenge is “Say It With Words”....that’s right NO IMAGES ALLOWED. Make the words (sentiment, verse, greeting) your focal point.

Here are the rules:

     1.       Follow the standard rules located in the left sidebar

2.       No image of any type (does not include stamped/digital words, 
          sentiments, verses, etc.) 

3.       You can enter up to 3 new projects

4.       Link to your post and within your post link back to this challenge 

5.       Be one of my lovely followers or become a follower

Remember this month we will have two winners (random and voted) and maybe another winner if I reach 50 entries or more.  

First Place: e-card from Mo Manning; Saturated Canary; or Kenny K (winner chooses) (random draw)
Second Place: e-card from Kenny K (voted by my girls)
Third Place: e-card from Make It Crafty (a minimum of 50 entries) (random draw)

You have a chance to win all three prizes, there is no limit.  Here is a card I created without an image to give you hopefully a bit of inspiration.

The paper is Bazzill and Graphic 45. The sentiment is from Lost Coastal Designs and a bit of ribbon.  The verse says "always do right, this will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

On the inside I used the same papers and kept it very simple.  I think I will add something to the left panel, just not sure what at the moment.  Always room to improve, and maybe on the message panel add some corners to map the whiteness less white (smile).

Well there you have it, so go out and find those words you have in your stash somewhere.  Look around your home, in magazines and everywhere.  It is possible "to find beauty in all things and then go create your own."  I can't wait to see what you create.

Thanks for stopping by and remember your comments are welcomed and appreciated! 

June Bonus Challenge Question

Okay my lovelies, here comes another short post.  I have a bonus surprise to give away to some lucky person if you're interested.  Its a bit harder so the prize will be a bit better.  So make sure you read the info below very carefully.  Well it's time for the big reveal of Mema's Crafts.........

 "BONUS JUNE CHALLENGE"

"Name That Dog"

Another way to win!  Here are the rules you must follow to win.

1. You must be a follower
2. You must have entered the June Challenge before it closes
3. You must respond to the question as directed
4. Send your email with my Yorkie's name before July 2nd

Bonus Question:  

What is the name of my four legged friend?

"Bonus Challenge":  "Name That Dog"  sounds a bit strange, right?

Well all you have to do is find the post where I chat about an episode my dog and grand-daughter had that was smelly, funny and work all rolled into one.

Now if you can remember/find her name, send me an email at :

memascrafts2@gmail.com  and in the subject line put "June Bonus"
Then just tell me her name and don't worry about the spelling...just get close.

From entries with the correct response I will randomly select our bonus winner.  So what do you win; a gift card where you tell me where you want to shop and I'll do the rest.

If your memory isn't that good then here are a few hints about the post title:

* the year was 2012
* the odor was horrible
* when it was all over there was a "mess" to clean up
* holidays were upon us

Okay while you shuffle through your memory let me share a card with you.

Well I must go and take my friend for a walk before the both of us call it a night.  In the meantime, you all have a blessed evening  where ever you are.

Hope you all find time to play with us with this challenge.

Hugz

~Lesia~

SOC Fundraiser Winners

The Fundraiser in support of SOC was a great success thanks to the many ladies that purchased a chance prize ticket.  The prizes included items by Tim Holtz, Fiskars, Martha Stewart and Bo Bunny.  Out of 229 tickets sold these were the lucky winners in the order they were randomly selected:

Ladies please contact Lesia to claim your winnings.  Click the contact me button in the right sidebar or send an email to memascrafts@gmail.com.

Next announcement will be for the June "Just Words" challenge.  Take a peek at the talent if you haven't already.  Next month we have a sponsor, Kenny K.  Kenny and Elena are offering their two newest digi stamps just in time for the Olympics and the Fourth of July.  So get ready, it's almost that time.

Random Act of Kindness (RAK)

Hey Everyone, I recently became the recipient of an RAK! Now to tell you that for the longest I had no clue what RAK stood for and then when I did I still had trouble getting the concept to sink into my brain. But I tell you it is the sweetest thing to have been honored with such a thing and now that I have felt the joy of being a recipient I can't wait to return the favor to one of my followers...I just have to figure out if there are rules or something.  Anyway in my RAK I received the most gorgeous Graphic 45 paper "Curtain Call" and I couldn't wait to create a card. So I created two cards to share with you along with a photo of my wonderful haul. Hope you enjoy these cards and check out the gifts.  Thank you again Francine....love it!

First of all let me show you my haul from the RAK.

Now for a peek at the two cards I made using the paper from my RAK. 



DP: Graphic 45 Curtain Call "Top Billing"
CS: Bazzill Black and Kraft
Flower: Recollections
Fuzzy cut tag and words
Frame from Recollections
Spellbinders scalloped square nestabilities 
On the inside I stayed with the same DP and CS and did a bit more fuzzy cutting to follow the theme of the card.



And now here is my second card created from the same RAK haul.  I tell you this was the most fun.

This Gate Fold card was created using:

DP: Graphic 45 Curtain Call
CS: Bazzill Black and Kraft
The Belly Ban I fuzzy cut the image and the words from one of the pages. The images on the panels were all fuzzy cut.

 Here you can see the belly ban removed and the card half open.

And finally you see the card completely open. The center panel is actually a pocket and if you look closely you can see the pocket is holding two tags.
These tags I added just so you could see the pocket, but the pocket is intended to hold a gift card or a bit of cash.  

Well that's all I have for this post.  Don't forget to enter my challenge (scroll down) and visit Jackson's Digital Expressions for weekly challenges and prizes. 

As always my lovely followers, your comments are appreciated.  Come back and visit real soon and remember "find beauty in all things and then go and create it".

We Want You!

Are you looking to be part of a design team.  Would you like to work with images that are seldom seen and are very versatile.  Well click here for an opportunity you don't want to miss.

Jackson's Digital Expressions is looking for 3-4 designers to join our team. Prior Design Team experience is not required. We are looking for fun people who work well in a team environment and are willing to work to help build JDE into a premiere challenge site.

What we are looking for:

1. The ability to meet deadlines
2. Friendly, mature, cheerful attitude and good people skills
3. 6 month commitment. Term Starts on July 15th and ends on December 31st of 2012.
4. Ability to create one project per week

If you meet these minimum requirements and are interested in a position as a Design Team Member then make sure your application is in the mix.  For more information visit Jackson's Digital Expressions blog.

Just For The Men

Hey Out There!! Can you believe that Father's Day is just around the corner and I hope all your crafters have been working away creating those cards for Dad and friends that are dads. Well I certainly have and I have a couple of cards I created for my boys that I would like to share with you so here goes.

My first card was inspired by the very talented Marianne, a lady that I think is absolutely marvelous in her designs. She challenges me with her work and I love it.  Here is another photo showing where your personal message would go.

I used Kraft paper and inked it up a lot and I mean alot. The patterned paper is from a papaper pack I discovered at Tuesday Morning (who knew, right?). I love how this card turned out.
Card Statistics:
The base is 5x7 and the 1st mat was cut at 4.75 x 6.75. The second mat  was cut at 4.5 x 6.5.  The border measures 4.5 x 2 and the straps measure 2 x .75. The personal message insert measures 4 x 7 and its mat is 6.08 x 3.5.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Tammy's Scrapin' Corner - Father's Day/Male
Try It on Tuesdays: Anything Goes
The Kraft Journal-Cards For Him 
Make It Monday - Always Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes
Cards For Men - Challenge 12 Father's Day

This is the most challenges I have ever entered at one time! Thanks for stopping by.

Hello My Friends

I hope you had a blast over the weekend or you spent it resting up from a long week like I did. I decided to enter a few challenges and I actually won one...yipee is all I can say. Well winning put me in the mood to create a card so I could enter another challenge...yep greedy I am, but the prize are images from Kenny K and Whiff of Joy. Two of my favorite places to shop. So here is my card that I am entering in the StampArtic June challenge.   Click the link and check them out.

The challenge required you to use Black and White as your main colors and you could choose one accent color. I tried to stay with the Black and White theme.  I used Bo Bunny "Enchanted" paper, Bazzill Black Cardstock and Recollections Pearls. The border was created using a Martha Stewart border punch and the Scalloped Ovals were created with Spellbinder dies.  The image was part of a collage I picked up at the Scrapbook Convention last year so I have forgotten the who behind the what. The ribbon I purchased at Michaels and had in my stash.  Now here is a quick peek at the inside of this card using the paper that was left.

Inside I decided to add a pocket for a personal message and then on the right side I am trying to decide what scenery would work well with this card.  Don't forget to check out StampArtic for a chance to win some cool, edgy digi stamps. 

Hint:  Next month's challenge is being sponsored by Kenny K and I am so excited.

Well this was a quick post but I hope my card has inspired you to challenge yourself and grab those opportunities to win great stuff.

Later my lovely followers...I appreciate your support.

SOC Members Fundraiser

ATTENTION ALL SOC MEMBERS!!!! We're having a private Chance Ticket Fundraiser for SOC. What is a Chance Ticket?? Well, you purchase a chance to win prizes by donating a minimum of $1 to SOC to support the site and your SOC family.  There are a few rules though, but the best part is you DO NOT have to create anything! Here are the rules.

Rule 1: Donate a minimum of $1 to SOC (the more you donate the more chances you have of winning-each $1 means one chance)
Rule 2: Join as a follower of Mema's Crafts, if you aren't already
Rule 3: Donate before the event closes

Sign in to SOC for more information. Before you leave this site make sure you are a follower and if you plan to donate enter your name in Mr Linky below.

Additionally, while you're here take time to look around and maybe even participate in June's "Just Words" challenge.  You could be our next winner.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pocket Card With Tutorial

Hi Everyone, Mema here with a card for you. I created my first version of this card last year, and since then I have gotten a couple of request to create a tutorial.  This design and tutorial was created by Camilla Bakke  and all I did was try to convert it from centimeters to inches.  This year I have created this card for a co-worker to give her dad who's birthday actually falls on Father's Day, so to knock out two birds with one stone I am creating this card for her.  You will see how this card is perfect for a dual occasion in a moment.

Warning: Because I have added the tutorial this may be a rather long post so be prepared.   Here is a look at my card.

I used paper from a DCWV paper pack and Recollections cardstock.  They had the packs on sale at Joanne's so I picked up a few packs.  The 3-D tree I added to give it a bit of depth and my co-worker enjoys being able to feel the elements. I used Martha Steward punch to add a border and a couple of brads I colored with copic markers finishes the front of the card.

The inside of the card has two pockets that allows you many options.  Money  or gift card in one of the pockets and your personal message in the other pocket.  Since this is going to be for two occasions I decided to put a Father's Day greeting in one pocket and the birthday message in the other pocket.  Additionally there is a smaller pocket that holds a notecard for my co-worker to write her personal message on. 

Lastly, here is a photo of the card inside with the messge tags showing for a better look.  I hope this will inspire you to try it out.  I've included the tutorial on this post but you can find the original tutorial by clicking on Tutorials on my menu bar above.

Camilla's Tutorial Follows:

1.       Start with a sheet of cardstock 12 x 12 (30cm x 30cm)

2.       Fold in half on both sides to create four sections 6 x 6 (15cm x 15cm)

3.       Then cut it in half but stop in the middle as shown in the photo

4.   Next cut off a part of that section.  I cut off 2.75 so that my pocket is 3.25 tall (the more you cut off the smaller your pocket). See photo.

5.  For added decoration use a punch of your choice and punch around the edge of the pocket that is left. (the photo shows a Martha Stewart border punch being used)

6.  Now for the next pocket cut about 2 inches (3cm) leaving about 4 inches (12 cm), then measure and mark at at angle or 6 cm.

(You will be cutting this at somewhat of an angle as shown in the next photo.)

7.       Fold the pockets up and your card should look like the one in the photo when it is open.

8.       Now to decorate. Cut your CS so that it measures 1/4 less than the size of the side of your card

9.       So if your card side is 6 x 6 then you would cut your next layer at 5.75 x 5.75

10.  Then your Designer Paper (DP) or top layer would be cut at 5.5 x 5.5

11.  Ink all your edges  Now adhere all your layers together (if you plan to sew around your edges do NOT add glue to your edge! Just tape the pieces to hold them in place until after you sew them.  If you do not plan to sew then use adhesive on the edges)

12. Here is a peek at the finished inside…isn’t it gorgeous.

 Decorate the front of your card and glue all the parts together

Add your image or sentiment and any embellishments to make your card stand out and you are complete!

Thanks to Camilla for this wonderful tutorial.  Have fun with it!

Remember..."find beauty in all things and then go create your own"

Thanks  for stopping by

Excitement In My House

There is excitement in my house at the moment because (wait for it)...I am now the proud owner of a "Pazzle Inspiration Creative Cutter" and I have no clue as of yet on what to do with it, but according to the reviews it is a product worth having.

If you've been looking at them, then I will tell you that they have three options going on in an attempt to make them more affordable and maybe one of the options will fit your needs. I got that thing home and was rather intimidated by the size of it and all I could think of was...another machine for me to learn..so I didn't open it up right away, instead I found it a spot in my closet to call home for awhile right next to my Grand Calibur I got for Mother's Day and have yet to play with it. (its just me)

Then while surfing the net I discovered this card that was just to cool, so I wrote the designer and asked if they used a template or tutorial or anything and they responded with an SVG file. Now I consider myself to be pretty intelligent when it comes to computer applications and files, but this file was new to me, so of course I began to research its orgin and discovered that I had the machine required to use it. So now the machine finally comes out of the closet and into the middle of my craftroom. I actually opened the box and peeked inside...such a pretty silver and blue color. I grabbed the manuals and the book of ideas and shoved the box to the side (the machine still in the box).

It took me two days to finally decide that I was going to at least set it up and install the software. Everything went smoothly and I even created a little project to cut out and show to my BFF (Joyce). So here we go, the needle is in, I've followed all the directions and things look great. I push the cut button and "ta-da" there's tranferring of bits and bytes between my machine and my computer, and suddenly the needle on the machine is gliding across the belt making one heck of a noise, but not as loud as the "Imagine" machine when it cuts (that machine's noise level is horrible!).

As I watched the machine do its thing, I noticed and thought to myself...something isn't right about this, and I was so right.  The doggone needle wasn't touching the paper so time to start again and retry.  I removed the needle holder, re-read the instructions and tried again and again it failed so of course I called the technical support folks.  The minute I told them what was happening, they knew exactly what to do (which was odd to me).  It seems this particular problem existed within the machine but wasn't discovered until after several irrate customers called to complain.  An update was put on their website for download, and while that help to some degree it did not completely resolve the issue I was having.  The next was to allow Pazzle access to my system so they could remotely correct my problem which had to do with the pressure max settings inside the machine.

Well at first, I thought it was pretty cool how they could just tap into your system and manipulate your files...control your PC, but then I thought of what that meant was possible...what could Uncle Sam could do to our lives...Ummm...look at the fact that cameras are going up everywhere so just how much longer will it be before our government takes control on our lives, could they tap into our minds and change the way we think....what if they could...wait just a darn minute... I'm sounding a bit paranoid...heh heh, got lost for a minute, but I'm saying it is something to think about.  Anyway back to my point.  It didn't take those Pazzle folks long to finish working their magic and then I was up to the plate to run my test and see how they scored. Well I cut my project and "Score" everything worked the way you should have!

How wonderful to have something work correctly the first time and in less than a couple of hours.  I could have kissed the person on the other end of the screen but I think it was a female so a hug would've been all she got from me (smiles).

Now that my machine is working correctly, you would think that my excitement would have up all night playing with my new toy, but that was not the case.  It seems I was more interested in watching NCIS reruns..so the machine was unplugged and repacked back into its box.  As I looked around I captured a few things of interest that i decided to write down so I could remember what I needed my boys to do the next time they visited.  Will I rearrange things in my craftroom, will I move some unwanted things out or will I simply knock down a wall and extend my craftroom into the adjoining bedroom???  Decisions, decisions.  I need more space for my stuff. 

Well at the moment all my neat machines are safely stored, and I can get back to creating cards using what I use most...paper.  Speaking of paper, if you like Graphic 45, they have a new paper pack that is gorgeous "diary of a lady".  Amazon.com has it should you want it.

Well my lovely followers, its time to end this post and check out the entries in my blog challenge.  I hope you've joined in the fun, but if not you still have lots of time to do so.  Until you do...remember to "find beauty in all things and then go create your own."