NaylorMade

I have been MIA for awhile on my blog and feel like I have some 'splaining to do...I got a full time job. I haven't worked a full time job in eighteen years. When I had my daughter (she's 18 now) I went to part time work so I could take care of her, then to full time stay at home mom when I had my second daughter. We never wanted anyone else taking care of our kids, and like so many other parents out there, we decided I would only work part time if needed while we raised our kids. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to be there for my children when they needed me most. I have to say that it was and always has been a conscious choice. Life is full of choices and we chose to have two wonderful children with a Mom who could stay home to raise them. I know what it's like to be left to daycare, preschools, babysitters and family members while growing up and I never wanted that for my own children. I have great respect and honor for my own Mother and all she sac...

That is the question...I decided, after a futile attempt to watercolor this card that it just wasn't worth it. So, the answer is not to watercolor. Copic Markers to the rescue! Before we get into my card, I want to give a big THANK YOU to Patricia Allison. She is the winner of the triangle turnabout stamp! Patricia is also a follower of my Facebook page and always has the kindest words to say about my work. I appreciate her so much, especially since she was the only one who took the time to comment on my post. I am so happy to send her some crafty goodies in the mail! One of the great things about social media is that it allows me to share my passion for card making  along with meeting people who share in my passion. The unfortunate part of social media is that it is selective on the audience my work reaches on the interwebz . Honestly, it's frustrating to say the least. I have several followers to my Instagram and Facebook page but because I don't pay for advert...

Today I'm featuring a stamp set that is really unique to the stamping industry. It allows you the opportunity to create a variety of backgrounds by using different stamp colors.  The possibilities are endless in what you can create given your available library of color!  They have a video that explains how to use their stamps far better than I ever could. Here it is:  Concord and 9th is a stamping company that is fairly new to me. I'm not ashamed to say I have already begun collecting their wares. They not only have the flower turnabout stamp, which is what I used to make my card but several other stamps, one of which I  purchased twice due to my lack of patience. The triangle turnabout stamp was sold out at one time. When I finally purchased it, I managed to add two to my cart.   I'd like to make my mistake your advantage by sending one of my followers this amazing background stamp! All I ask is that you follow my blog and post your favor...

You would think it difficult to get into the spirit of Christmas when the current temperature reads ninety three degrees outside but thanks to a comfortable air-conditioned, seventy degrees inside and Stampin' Up!'s Christmas Pines stamp set, it's not so difficult after all. I was recently invited to attend a local Christmas in July craft fair. I'm so excited to share my Christmas cards and even sell a few but I didn't have a few made at all, let alone to sell!  I'm happy this stamp set carried over from last years catalog along with the matching dies. It has come in handy for some much needed inspiration on the short notice I received on the fair invite. I have some awesome news if you want to get a head start on your Christmas card making! Make a purchase at my store of $50 retail and  Stampin' Up ! will give you a $5 coupon for every fifty you spend that you can use anytime next month (August 1-31)! It's like getting an early Christmas gift! I...

It is the fifth day and I have done each technique on a new card to show you how you can use your inks in a new way. Thanks so much for joining me. Happy Stamping my friends! If you are interested in joining my team of Naylor Made Stampers, please click here:  jointhefun  If you just want to shop for awesome  Stampin' Up! product click  my online store here: https://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/default.aspx

Wow, what a day! I've been up since 5:30 this morning and I'm soooo not a morning person! My daughter had her first day of orientation at the University of Nevada Reno and you know, us parents will do ANYthing for our kids. Even if it means getting up at dark thirty to hold their daughter's hand for her first steps onto a college campus.  So, please forgive me for my photo taking skills. I'm working on it! Practice makes better, right? The great part about this series is that it's more about the technique than anything. I notice after I make a card to showcase a technique, later that evening or the next day I come up with a better design or maybe a different way I could've done the first one. Not always but sometimes I do this and that's why I decided day five will be the best day in the series! I will take each day of different ways to use your inks and show another project I made!  Today I have a super simple, yet effective, way to use ...

Did you know you can watercolor with your ink pads?  I've been making cards for over eleven years now and I didn't even know I could do that for about half the time! I've always used my Distress Inks when water coloring on cards (and traditional watercolors) because they're specifically formulated to work with water. Don't get me wrong, Distress Inks are wonderful to work with but not everyone can afford to have every ink available. And there's a lot of them! This card took me fifteen minutes tops! I felt so accomplished because I kid you not, I spend at least forty five minutes to an hour on every card I make. This would be a great card to mass produce (think Christmas) with any set of stamps. I used Stampin' Up!'s Beautiful You  stamp set for this card. I had yet to use this set from last years catalog. I'm so happy they decided to continue to carry it this year. It's a beautiful set with great sentiments. I also used several Stampin...

Texture backgrounds anyone? Stampin' Up!'s Pattern Party Decorative Masks create awesome textured backgrounds for scrapbook pages, cards and more! You can use it with your inks and blend the color on or you can use your inks in a new way by blending it with our Embossing Paste to create a custom look and dimension on your project. Today I'd like to show you how to use your inks with embossing paste to make a cool dimensional background. Sorry for the glare here. I'm a card maker not a photographer! Now let's make that background! First, choose your mask. This set comes with four different patterns. I chose the cloud image. Oh the possibilities! Second, choose your color. I decided on pool party for my clouds. Smoosh the stamp pad directly to a craft mat or whatever slick surface you have available to you.  Then add the embossing paste  and mix with a pallet knife. Thoroughly mix in the ink color then adhere the mask to your card stock so it won...

You didn't think ink pads were just for stamping, did you?  Silly, of course not! There are many things you can do with your ink pads to get the most for your initial investment and I'm going to show you five different ways to use your inks in the next five days. Starting today! I'd like to share an ink blending technique that I was reminded of out of necessity. We all know what that means. "Necessity is the mother of invention! I, in no way invented this technique. It does come in handy for the times you run out of coordinating colored card stock. And that's exactly what happened when I wanted to coordinate the Happy Birthday Thinlits Die with the color of card I was making. I may not have had the colored card stock I wanted but I did have the ink color and I had whisper white card stock . Marrying the ink and white paper made for a beautiful union in this case. Check it out! Just by taking a mini ink blending tool  and blending lemon lime twist and ber...

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads and Moms who play both rolls (my Mom was one of them when I was growing up). Being a parent is the most important job in the world and it's always appropriate to give thanks and appreciation when we can. I've noticed more and more stamp companies have come out with layering stamps. These stamps create an almost 3D look to your stamped image when layers are applied in a light ink to start and each additional ink darker than the first. Stampin' Up! has several layering stamp sets that I'm familiar with. At first I was a bit intimidated by them because I wasn't sure how to use them but with practice, I've become quite comfortable. Freshly home from an Oregon Coast vacation, I spotted a wave layer stamp by a company called, The Ton Stamps.  It was one of those impulsive moments where I just had to have that stamp! The ocean wave stamp details are amazing. A wave is simple but can conjure up so many meanings for so many d...

Tis the season for graduations. You may have friends, family or even yourself soon to graduate and if so, congratulations! It's a super accomplishment to be graduating and a time to celebrate!  What do you need when you celebrate? Presents and a card to go with, of course! And I have the perfect card! I chose a neutral color scheme using Stampin' Up!'s Easter Palace Designer Series Paper and coordinating  card stock along with gold glitter paper to go with any recipient. The gold just pops right off the card and adds a nice touch. The cap was easy enough to make with a couple of different sizes of my layering squares dynamic s along with a mini tassel. I'm so fortunate to not only have two wonderful nephews graduating (wish I could've been there when they did) this year but my own daughter will be walking down the isle Tuesday evening. My Mom, sisters and nephew (who just graduated yesterday) are due to arrive tomorrow! It's such a blessing to have family...

I have a Thank You Card featuring two new stamp set bundles and one of our beautiful new 2017-2019 In colors from Stampin' Up!'s Annul Catalog that launched today! The In Color I chose for today's project is called Powder Pink.  The name says it all when describing this color. It is the perfect color of soft pink and goes great with a number of neutral colors, like the Early Espresso ink and card stock I used here along with Whisper White card stock. I combined the Colorful Seasons stamp and coordinating dies with Daisy Delight stamp set for the sentiment. Both sets are brand new and can be purchased at a ten percent discount when combined with their coordinating dies or daisy punch that comes with the Daisy Delight set.  There are so many possibilities for creativity with these sets! This is just a start for me using the amazing products in our new annual catalog and I can't wait to show you more!  All of the products are available in my online store...

Brenda Matley!!! Thank you to all who entered my giveaway. I sincerely appreciate all the interest and support of my little corner of the interwebz. I wish I could send something to everyone who entered but I plan to have more giveaways in the future as my business grows.   If you would like to join in the fun and be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator , I would LOVE to have you on my team! It's a great way to earn instant discounts on products you may already use or create extra income for you and your family. Stampin' Up! is a wonderful company to work with and there is so many opportunities to earn or to simply get a discount for yourself! Every little bit helps especially since our NEW CATALOG LAUNCHES TODAY !!! YAY!!! Can you tell I'm excited? I can't wait to try out some of our new products and share them all with you!  I've missed my last two Stamping Sunday posts. I feel bad but it has been a little hectic at my house. My daughter is graduating h...

No stamping or card making for me today. Went to my favorite breakfast place this morning with my Mother in law, hubs and girls. Then, I went to the mall with my girls and hubby. We walked around, stopped at See's Candy and bought $20 worth of chocolate to devour later and decided to leave right after because it was too peopley there. When we arrived home we did laundry and watched our DVR'd TV. It was a super day with no real purpose but to do whatever. No cards, no flowers just love from my family doing the things we like to do when we don't really have to do anything. So relaxing I fell asleep on the couch and am only now getting to my blog. Happy Mother's Day! I hope all Moms had a wonderful day!!!

I love being able to play with new stamp sets from Stampin' Up! before they're available to my customers. It allows me the opportunity to give honest recommendations of product that I think worthy of purchase from me. Lets face it, this hobby is not cheap! You have to get the best bang for your buck and if that means forgoing some product for others, I'm all for that! The hard part though is   so much of Stampin' Up!'s product is worth every penny. Today I made a super simple, anyone can make this, card.  I used a stamp set called, Crafting Forever, from our new annual catalog and Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils. Don't you just love a freshly sharpened pencil? Maybe that's just me. It's the small things in life that make me happy. Here is my simple card. I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Stampin' Up!'s black archival ink, colored in the image with the watercolor pencils then used my aqua painter to spread the color. I ...

It's that time of year again! Time to give thanks to the women we know and love as our Mother. Without going into the idiosyncrasies of it all, I'll say I honor Mother's Day with this card. "To my Mom, because of you I am me." The items I used in making this card will soon be discontinued. They are available until May 31, 2017, while supplies last.  Supplies used listed below and available to purchase in my online store at : https://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/default.aspx Oh so Succulent Stamp Set: 142992 Succulent Framelet Dies: 142757 So Detailed Thinlits Dies: 142751 Stitched Framelet Dies: 145372 Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper: 142778 Succulent Garden Cardstock Pack: 142779 Whisper White Thick Cardstock: 140272 Old Olive Classic Stamping' Pad: 126953 Enamel Shapes Brights: 141680 Card Dimensions: Card Base: 41/4x11 scored @ 5 1/2 Designer Series Paper: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2

Who doesn't like free stuff, especially when it's all Stampin' Up !?  I'm so excited for the launch of Stampin' Up! 's annual catalog that I thought I would give some of our product away to say thank you to all those who support me and to those who will support me in the future. The items featured are worth over $100 retail value! All you have to do is follow my blog here, comment on this post and like my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/adellenaylormade/   That's it! Here is a sneak peak of our new annual catalog. I can't show you the inside but this is the cover. Love all the fresh color and card making inspiration! I will be giving a copy of our new catalog to the winner of this giveaway.  All products included in the giveaway are purchased and shipped by me. I will also include two items from the new catalog to the winner as a surprise! This giveaway is only open to USA participants. I apologize to my international customers but be...

I'm channeling my best Maggie and the Ferocious Beast   here but yeah, the Studio Katia  google eyes are a great new addition to my crafty stash.  I highly recommend adding them to yours. I happened upon them by mistake. I meant to order a larger size but apparently I mistook these tiny little dots of wonder for the more sensible, wobbly dots of ordinary size. Why is it the tinier something is the cuter it looks? As a child I had a fascination with my Grandma's white china, pink flowered tea set. That is, until she bought me a set of my own and instead of going on a total tangent here, I'll keep it short and sweet. I still have the set. Check out how tiny these eyes are! Great Googly Moogly, they're so stinking cute! I used distress inks to color all the back ground images on this card. I white embossed and colored the Sow Much Cuteness stamp set by My Favorite things with my Zig clean color real brush markers . It's hard to see the eyes on the e...

As I was rearranging my craft room today , I was reminded of this video from a few years ago; It's funny because it's true! I had to make room for my new craft mat, rulers and have a space for the awesome birthday gift I received from my wonderful mother in law... last year. She gifted me an amazing, computerized, embroidering sewing machine! I never made room for it until I actually needed to use it, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a sewing machine. I mean, you shouldn't need to use it in order to make space for it, especially if you have the space to afford...or do I?  I do. It's not so much that I didn't want to use the sewing machine, I adored it for what it is capable of doing and the fact that it's such a thoughtful gift, but  I've forever convinced myself I'm no good at sewing. I believed I had no patience for the craft and after seeing the beautiful things my mother in law could make with her sewing machine, well, ...