Christmas Shadow Box Class - The finished projects

  About a week and a half before Christmas I held my Christmas Shadow Box class.  Here is the sample that I made to show my stamping ladies.  I had 3 ladies sign up for the class and it was so nice to get to sit and chat with them while they made their shadow boxes.  This is a pretty easy project and would make a great gift for next year---it's never too early to start planning for next Christmas is it??  I've already told myself that I'm going to make 10 Christmas cards each month starting in January so I'll be all ready once December rolls around.  We'll see if I can stick to it---you guys will have to keep me accountable!

  Anyway, back to the boxes...2 of my stamping ladies hadn't worked with Decor Elements before so they were a bit wary but they did fantastic and their frames looked great.  I took a photo of each completed project and it was so fun to see how different they all were depending on the paper and ribbon they choose.  I apologize for the poor photo quality...the dim lighting and the glass made for a tough setting.  It's hard to see but on the Very Vanilla cardstock there are a bunch of snowflakes punched out and adhered making it look almost embossed.

 

 

Liz & her frame

Beth & her frame

 

 

 

 

Camera shy Sheila's frame

  I'm looking forward to stamping in 2011 with all of my stamping ladies.  I have 2 hostess club spots still available so if you're in the Richmond area and are interested in joining our group and earning hostess benefits just let me know and I'll give you all the details.

  Happy Stamping & Happy New Year!

Stamps: none

Ink: None


Paper: Assorted Jolly Holiday DSP, Textured Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Very Vanilla


Accessories:  Satin ribbon, tinsel trim, Snowflake punch, Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, seam binding ribbon, Decor Elements, 12x12 shadow box frame (non-SU), bells (non-SU)
 

Serene Clean & Simple

  Just a quick post today, I've got my parents and brother arriving for Christmas so I won't have much time to get on the computer after today.  Hopefully everyone has a wonderful Christmas.  Here is a card I did at a little mini workshop over Thanksgiving weekend.  My sister-in-law to be (someday!) was interested in learning more about stamping so I brought down a few projects to teach her the basics.  We also talked my husbands step-mother into joining us.  I think she was skeptical at first but she really seemed to enjoy herself.

  I wanted to keep it simple since they had never stamped before.  Boy was that hard....I kept wanting to add stuff and do techniques etc.  I did have to hold back on bringing the Dazzling Diamonds since I didn't think my in-laws would appreciate the sparkle all over their house after we left! I think this card came out cute even if there isn't a lot of "stuff" going on.

   I hope you all have an awesome Christmas!!


Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Four the Holidays

Ink: Baja Breeze


Paper: Whisper White, Real Red


Accessories: paper piercer, piercing mat, rhinestone jewel

Card Display Garland

  Last year as I was taking down my Christmas card holder (just a wire form in the shape of an angel) I felt that there had to be a better way to display the hand stamped cards that I had received throughout Christmas.  They were all tucked into the wire angel with the other greeting & photo cards and no one could see them well enough to appreciated the time and talent that went into making them.  They kind of got lost in the Christmas greeting mess that is my card holder.  Since I send out a good number of hand stamped cards every Christmas I know that it takes time to design, stamp, write out and mail all those cards.  I wanted a way to showcase those little works of art that stamping friends have taken the time to make and mail to me.  So last January I ordered a roll of the wide striped Old Olive grosgrain ribbon and a pack of the library clips (they retired in July but you can still buy them from the Clearance Rack) to see what I could come up with for a better card display.  They have been sitting in my stamp room waiting to be called into action ever since.

 

  I finally found time this afternoon to put my plan into action!  This old leaded glass frame is in my front entry way above an old church pew.  See the Decor Element behind it?  Anyway I decided to make a card display garland so all the beautiful hand stamped cards are on display for all to enjoy.  It is also up high enough that I think my grubby handed little boys won't mess with it.  Aren't these cards great?  I've got great stamping friends!  I get a big smile on my face every time I walk through the entry way to get to the stairs!

  All I did was use thumbtacks to hold my ribbon in place and draped it across the frame.  I have a tack on each corner and then one in the middle.  Then I got out my EZ bow maker (non-Stampin' Up) to make the bow in the center.  I used floral wire to hold the bow together and to wrap around the center tack to keep it in place.

  So now onto to the clips to hold the cards on the garland.  I pulled out all the white clips (I still have a lot of Old Olive & Chocolate Chip clips if I end up needing more) and my Cherry Cobbler seam binding.  I thought some cute little fork bows would do the trick.  See my Fork Bow tutorial for a how to!  It took no time at all to make 8 bows.

  Now I had to adhere the the bow to the clip.  This is where I ran into a little bump....At first I thought a glue dot would do the trick...Nope.  The glue dot would not stick to the clip.  Then I decided to try a little piece of Sticky Strip....Nope.  The Sticky Strip wouldn't stick either.  Huh.  Sticky Strip always sticks to everything, even things you don't want it to stick to. 

  On to the big guns...Glue Gun that is!  That didn't work either if you can believe it!  I finally decided that the clips had such a smooth finish the adhesives had nothing to grip to.  Out to the garage for some sandpaper.  I roughed up the finish a little and the glue gun worked perfectly after that.

  All in all, even with the adhesive problems this project only took me about 30 minuted to complete.  I'm thinking that this would look really cute around a wide doorway (if you didn't have grubby handed little boys like me!)--maybe someday I can shoot for that!

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Decorating!

Supplies: Old Olive 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain ribbon,  1/2" Library Clips (still available on the Clearance Rack!), Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, glue gun, thumb tacks

I've been stamping---I promise!!

  It has just been so busy around here with getting ready for Christmas that I haven't had much time to post here on Did You Stamp Today?  But I have been stamping; I just finished addressing about 80 hand stamped Christmas cards that will go out in the mail tomorrow.  I have 4 cards left to make for teacher gifts and then I think I can stamp for fun again...Though my husband decided that now is a great time to work on my stamp room.  Yesterday he painted it and today he put up crown molding.  Next on his list is to build a custom desk and bookshelf for me.  He has grand plans that it will all be finished in time for Christmas since this is my Christmas present (awesome isn't it??!! I can't wait!!).  I have my doubts about that but for right now my entire stamp room is boxed up, piled up and in total disarray in the spare room.   Regardless, it will all have to be moved back even if the desk and bookshelf aren't finished yet because that is where my in-laws will be sleeping when they come visit the day after Christmas.  I doubt they want to cuddle in bed with my paper trimmer & Big Shot!

  Anyway, on to a card I made a few weeks ago using Color Challenge 298 at Splitcoaststampers.

 

 The challenge was to use Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft).  What a yummy combo isn't it?  Makes me think of digging into some tasty dessert!  I stamped the tall pine tree from the classic set Lovely As A Tree in Chocolate Chip onto Very Vanilla.  I layered Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip cardstock behind it.  You can't really see it but there is some sparkle on the pine tree.  I used my Versamarker to highlight the branches and then I embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.  It looks cool like snow or ice....and it stays put.  On the corner of the tree panel I threaded some Chery Cobbler seam binding through a large button and wrapped it around the corner adhering the ends of the seam binding to the back.

  For the base I used Crumb Cake cardstock and stamped the largest snowflake from Serene Snowflakes in Crumb Cake ink.  The "Peace on Earth" sentiment is stamped right over the top of the snowflake in Chocolate Chip ink.

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Serene Snowflakes, Four the Holidays

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake


Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Versamarker,  Iridescent Ice embossing powder, button, seam binding

Stamping Two Days in a Row! Yellow Dog Thanks!

  This morning before leaving the house to take my oldest to school I checked out the sketch challenge on Splitcoastampers so that I could mull it over throughout the day and if I had time to get in the stamp room I would have a head start on some ideas.  I actually did make it into the stamp room though I was accompanied by my 4 year old so any design I wanted to get started on took quite a bit longer than if I was working alone.  Ryan loves being in the stamp room with me since he gets to play with some of my tools (I did have to draw the line at letting him use the Big Shot today---I just couldn't bring myself to go that far!).  He has a cardboard box that my Stampin' Up orders arrive in and he's got stickers, markers, a gluestick, ribbon scraps and construction paper and he goes to town decorating it.  He loves my punches and had a grand time with the Decorative Label punch today.  He's also quite the master with the crimper! 

  Anyway back to the challenge card for today.  I had gotten the D is for Dog stamp set as one of my Sale-A-Bration freebies last year and believe it or not I didn't even have it mounted yet!  High time to get this set inked up wouldn't you say??  I also still have some of the Sale-A-Bration Welcome Neighbor DSP and I'm trying very hard not to hoard so that came out to play as well.

   The base is Very Vanilla and on top of that is a panel of Cajun Craze that is embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (kind of hard to see in the photo).  The tilted panels on this sketch kind of threw me off for a bit.  I'm a pretty straight, even, and balanced kind of stamper but the whole point of doing challenges is to step out of your comfort zone so I went to work on the "tilts". 

  The Welcome Neighbor DSP panel is distressed on the edges and crumpled a few times...in real life it looks really cool believe me!  For the yellow dog (shout out to all those yellow lab owners!) I stamped him in More Mustard pulling the color from the DSP stripes.  I gave him a bit of shadow around his feet so he wouldn't look like he was levitating.  Can you picture a goofy drooly lab hovering around your house?  Ha!  Anyway, I used my blender pen and the Sahara Sand Watercolor Wonder crayons, again pulling colors from the stripes.  I also sponged the edges with Sahara Sand.  I added some hardware with the vintage silver brads in each corner.  The whole dog panel is popped on dimensionals.

  Since I can't have too many Thank You cards on hand I decided to use the Thank You Kindly set and just inked up the "Thanks" with my Pacific Point marker.  It's hard to see but there is also a faint dog bone on the Thanks panel.  I inked up the bone with Sahara Sand, stamped off once, then stamped it right over the sentiment.  I punched the Thanks with the small oval punch and then layered the larger oval in Pacific Point behind it.  The sentiment is also popped up on dimensionals.  I thought this would be a great color combination for a masculine birthday card as well.

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: D is for Dog, Thank You Kindly

Ink: More Mustard, Sahara Sand, Pacific Point

Paper: Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Pacific Point, Welcome Neighbor DSP (retired- SAB)


Accessories: Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, brads, oval punches, blender pen, Sahara Sand Watercolor crayon

Love this Christmas Truck & a Color Challenge

  I hardly every get to do a challenge on the same day it was issued but today I got lucky....the boys are at school for the morning....the errands I have to do aren't urgent (at least in my mind!)....and the laundry is under control so it was time to head to the stamp room.  I checked out the challenge for today over on Splitcoaststampers and it's a Color Challenge using Real Red, Old Olive & River Rock.  Of course Real Red & Old Olive are great Christmas colors and River Rock adds a bit of non-traditional into the mix. 

  I know this truck has been around forever but it's still super cute and fun to watercolor.  I watercolored the truck & gifts using my Aquapainter and ink pads with the ink smooshed onto the lid.  For the tires, rims & bumpers I used the Aquapainter and my black & gray Watercolor Wonder crayons.  (Side note: Stampin' Up! just announced that the Watercolor Wonder crayons with the new Color Renovation colors are available to order!!)  I cut out the gifts and used my 2 way glue pen to highlight parts of them and covered them with Dazzling Diamonds.  I used some Crystal Effects on the hubcaps and bumpers and also added a sprinkling of Dazzling Diamonds to the hubcaps.  Gotta add some bling for Christmas right? 

  I popped the gifts as well as the main image panel up with dimensionals.  I also had one of the little tiny library binder clips so I tied a bow with linen thread around it and added more sparkle with a rhinestone.

  For the card base I stamped some Simple Snowflakes in River Rock, added a leftover strip of Old Olive Sweet Pea DSP, a little bit of Real Red scallops and a length of Very Vanilla grosgrain.

  Head on over to Splitcoaststampers and play along with this color challenge.  I'd love to see what you all come up with!  I'm off to cut some cardstock in preparation to make my Christmas cards....I've got the design all set now I just need to get busy and stamp!

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!
 

Stamps: Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories, Simple Snowflake

Ink: Stazon, River Rock, Real Red, Old Olive

Paper: River Rock, Real Red, Old Olive, Sweet Pea DSP, watercolor paper


Accessories: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder crayons, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects, Scallop border punch, library clip, linen thread, rhinestone jewel, Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon

Two Tags Thanksgiving Treat

  I just wanted to share a quick project that I did for Thanksgiving.  I made these super cute (if I do say so myself) and super fast place setting treat holders to bring to Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws house.  Everyone seemed to like them---the kids cared more about the mini Hershey bars inside than the design though!

 

  I ran the Early Espresso cardstock through the Big Shot using the Two Tags die.  Then I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the tag.  Since the embossing kind of hides the score line from the die I just made my own fold to fit the Hershey bar.  I added some Very Vanilla 5/8" satin ribbon---don't mind the More Mustard ink stain on the ribbon---lesson learned to close the ink pad after stamping or to clean off my stamping table so I can have more room!!

  For the name panel I punched some ovals using the 2" x 1 3/8" Extra Large oval punch.  I sponged the edges with Early Espresso.  I used one of the small flower/leaf stamps from Day of Gratitude for the image.  I thought the More Mustard was kind of dark on the first attempt so I decided to stamp off once before stamping on my oval for a more muted look.  I added the names with my Early Espresso Stampin' Write marker.  Done deal! 

  A few reminders:  The Online Extravaganza is ending tomorrow.  Check out all the great deals (some 50% off!!) at my online store (link on my sidebar).  Don't forget orders over $150 get free shipping.  Now is the time to tell your husband what you want for Christmas!

  Also, if you've ever thought about becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator now is the time to sign up!  The AWESOME starter kit is only $87.50 ---half off the normal price.  You get a ton of great stamping products as well as the support of the whole Stampin' Up family!  No obligation to hold classes or workshops either--you can sign up just for the kit!  Contact me ASAP for more details.  This great deal also ends tomorrow (Nov. 30)

Stamps: Day of Gratitude

Ink: Early Espresso, More Mustard


Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Two Tags die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Early Espresso Stampin' Write marker, mini Hershey bars

Sweet Treat Snowman Ornament

  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I know I ate more than I should have but it was all so yummy I couldn't say no!  I'm feeling a bit chubby like the little guy below! 

  Since my boys were born I like to make an ornament for them every Christmas so then when they are on their own they will have a small collection of ornaments for their own trees.  I decided to do double duty and create a project that my stamp club could make that could also be the ornament for my boys.  I also think it would be nice accent on a bottle of wine for a hostess gift for all those Christmas parties you go to.  You'll be sure to get the "You MADE this???" question! 

 

  It's kind of hard to see in the photo but the treat cup is filled with fake snow.  Some of my Stampin' Ladies added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds to the fake snow for some extra pop.  His scarf is made from Cherry Cobbler seam binding and his hat has a strip of champagne glass glitter.  The loop for hanging is just a bit of white embroidery floss.  The rosy cheeks are made with Regal Rose Watercolor  Wonder crayon & blender pen.

  Here are the instructions for putting this snowman together.  It's easier to do a visual than to type it up.  I have on the instructions that you need 2 of all the pieces because one set is for the backside so you have a nice neat & clean finished product. 

 

  Have fun making this Frosty, or Henry, as my friend named her Sweet Treat snowman!

Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: None

Ink: None

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede

Accessories: Circles #2 Big Shot die, 1 3/4" circle punch, Sweet Treat cup, snowflake punch, small star punch, owl punch, word window punch, small tag punch, watercolor wonder crayon, blender pen, white gel pen, seam binding ribbon, sticky strip, glass glitter, embroidery floss (non-SU)

Stampin' Up! Online Spectacular!

 Wow!!!  There are some great deals happening at Stampin' Up! for the next 9 days.  I know I want a bunch of the sale items already.  You can't beat free shipping either.  To do some shopping or to direct those clueless loved one to exactly what you want for Christmas check out my online Stampin' Up! store by clicking  SHOP NOW
  Remember, hostess benefits & free shipping apply to orders over $150 before shipping & tax.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Have fun shopping....I know I will!


Happy Stamping!

November Stamp Club - Sparkly Snowflake Gift Card Holder

  Here is the second project my stamp club did on Tuesday night.  This is a SUPER EASY gift card holder....it takes just a half sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock.  A bunch of my stamping ladies said they would definitely be making a lot of these to get ready for Christmas.  I think they would be great for teacher gifts, no fuss, no muss; you don't even need an envelope....just decorate the front really pretty and you're set.

 The finished size of this holder is 3 inches across and 4 1/4 inches high.  For your base (here we used Bashful Blue) you want a piece 4 1/4 inches wide and 11 inches long (cut your regular sized Stampin' Up cardstock in half the long way---I'm not sure of the standard sizes for other companies).

   Now get out your scoring tool/blade and score at 3", 5 1/2" & 8".  Fold the cardstock in half at the center score line and then fold the ends in towards each other.  Run a length of Sticky Strip on the inside (opposite of where the gift card goes) where the 2 halves meet.  

  To make the slot for the gift card use the Word Window punch twice just along the edge of the fold, not quite all the way to the edge and only slide your cardstock about halfway into the punch.  You can always nip off a bit more if it is too tight of a fit and then use the small oval punch to make a little thumb grab.  You can see it pretty well in the picture.  

  For the embellishments on this card we used a Glimmer Brad in Pear Pizzazz as well as highlighting the snowflake with Dazzling Diamonds.  You need about 18 inches of ribbon to have enough to tie a pretty bow.  The ribbon is just adhered with SNAIL along the back.

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes

Ink: Bashful Blue

Paper: Bashful Blue, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Accessories: scoring blade, Corner Rounder punch, Word Window punch, Small Oval punch, Glimmer Brad, Dazzling Diamonds, Whisper White Organza ribbon

Fork Bow Tutorial

  Here is a quick photo tutorial for making the Fork Bow used on the Autumn Top Note Medallion card

Step 1-

Get your ribbon and fork.  For this bow I used 5/8" satin ribbon cut to around 8 inches and a larger serving fork.  Smaller fork = smaller bow. 

Step 2-

Wrap your ribbon around the fork leaving a longer tail on the bottom.  The top tail stays stationary so you don't need as much length there.

Step 3-

Take your long bottom tail and come up over the short top tail.  Stick the long tail through the center of the fork.  All the while hold the short tail firmly so it doesn't slip off the fork.

Step 4-

Keep holding tight to the short tail.  Now bring the end of your long tail back up through the center at the bottom of the fork and pull it tight.  Sorry for the flash glare- hope you can see the piece sticking out from the bottom!  My cameraman had to leave for his hockey game!

Step 5-

Now tie a knot with the 2 tails.

And here is what the other side of the fork looks like....can you see the bow?

Step 6-

Slide the bow off the fork and trim the ends!  And now you have a gorgeous Fork Bow for any project.

November Stamp Club - Autumn Top Note Medallion

  Last night was my November Stamp Club meeting and it was great seeing all my stamping ladies for some fun.  This is one of the projects we did and it was awesome to see them all learn to tie a fork bow (check back tomorrow I'll be posting a separate Fork Bow tutorial!).  They thought I had lost a few marbles (not that I have that many to start with or anything) when they saw the serving fork sitting out with the supplies for this card!  They also learned how to use the Big Shot and Top Note die to make this square medallion.

   First up, for the Top Note Medallion all you do is cut out a Top Note with the Big Shot, remove the excess trim then turn the Top Note 90 degrees on the die so it lays across the cutting area.  Line up the points evenly between the points on the die to get an even shape.  Run it through the Big Shot again.  The second cut turns it from a rectangle into this great square!  Super easy!

  For the stamping we used the Day of Gratitude set from the Holiday Mini catalog.  I love this large stamp and all the detail it has and it fits perfectly in the Top Note Medallion.  To get the "light to dark" look we did the Rock 'n' Roll technique.  The stamp was first inked up with More Mustard and then we rolled just the edges of the stamp on the Cajun Craze ink pad.  For this technique always remember to ink with the lighter color first and to clean your stamp before putting it to your light colored ink pad again.  The edges of the Top Note Medallion were sponged with Early Espresso ink.  For the sentiment panel the flower was stamped in More Mustard and the sentiment was stamped in Early Espresso.
 
  We used the 5/8" satin ribbon (love it!) to make the bow and adhered it with glue dots.  And now you have a great card to give next week at Thanksgiving to someone you're truly thankful to have in your life.

Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Day of Gratitude


Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso

Paper: Very Vanilla,  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso

Accessories: Top Note die, 5/8" Early Espresso ribbon

12x12 Christmas Shadow Box - Class in December

  On December 14 at 7pm I will be holding a class where each person will get to make a 12x12 shadow box decorated for Christmas.  This project is a great way to add to your homes holiday decor or to make as a gift (we all know someone who is impossible to shop for!).  Below is a sample of one that I have made (It was tough photographing this frame but I hope you can get a good idea anyway!).  Each class attendee will get to choose which Jolly Holiday DSP pattern they want to use as well as mix and match the ribbon selections to make it a one of a kind project.

  The cost of the class is $25 (cash or check) and prepayment needs to be made by Monday, November 29 to hold your spot.  Choice of DSP design will be made in the order of payment received so don't wait to sign up!

  If you have any questions don't hesitate to send me an e-mail or give me a call!

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Bright Birdie Challenge Card

  Ahhhh, it felt good to get back in my stamp room last night.  I finished up the last project I was designing for my stamp club on Tuesday, I worked on a special holiday decoration class sample for my December Stampin' Tuesday (look for a post on that soon!) and I also got to do a double challenge card for 2 of the challenges over on Splitcoaststampers.  I did Color Challenge 296 for this week as well as Sketch Challenge 306.  Go check and them out and play along....there isn't a time limit or anything so go get stamping.

 

  I actually haven't even used this new In Color Poppy Parade for a card yet.  All I had done was punch out a circle of cardstock to add to my cardstock sampler ring.  So following the challenge colors and layout it was a pretty quick card to put together.  Since Tempting Turquoise and Poppy Parade are pretty bright colors I knew I needed to have a lot of white space to balance it out....I didn't want to blind you all!

   The layers from the base up are Poppy Parade, Basic Black & Whisper White.  Once I had my white space determined I added a strip (read: scrap!) of Tempting Turquoise which I paper pierced.  I thought about running it through the Big Shot with an embossing folder because I'm addicted to those but I decided that any pattern would just be too busy for these colors.

  The birdcage is stamped with black and the bird is Tempting Turquoise and then punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch and layered on a 2 3/8" scallop circle in Poppy Parade (I keep wanting to type poopy parade....do you think it's because I still have one in diapers or just because I'm a bit strange??  Hmmmm, will have to think on that one huh?).  I used my handheld punch to make a small circle at the top of the birdcage to run my 1/4" black taffeta ribbon through and then tucked it behind the Whisper White panel and adhered the end.  Now, let me tell you, it's a lot easier if you do the ribbon part BEFORE you add your brads in the corner.   Just trying to help out.  I tied the bow and added that with a glue dot.  To get my brads evenly placed I used my piercing tool and mat pack to line up each corner just right.  

  I dug through all my sentiments to find one that was just the right size and said something that would go with the card (you're not going to put "With Sympathy" in scroll-y font on this kind of bright bird card!) and ended up using this one from Vintage Labels, a Sale-A-Bration set from last year.

   And there you have it.  A lot of talk about a card that didn't take much time at all to make.  Again, go check out the challenges on Splitcoaststampers, it's a great place to get a bit of inspiration and a little nudge out of your stamping comfort zone.

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Aviary, Vintage Labels

Ink: Black, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Whisper White, Black, Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch, handheld punch, 1/4" taffeta ribbon, glue dot, paper piercer, black brads

Square Happy Birthday Owl

  I love this little owl punch!!  He/She is soooo cute and perfect for so many occasions.  I've continued to try to use up Designer Series Paper scraps.  Just because it's retired doesn't mean it's not great paper!  I plan to use up a whole bunch of it for my Christmas cards.  Anyway...back to the owl; I haven't done a project for my stamp club yet with it and I think I have to get it on the schedule ASAP!  I have seen a lot of cute punch art using this little guy so he's very versatile too!  You get all the pieces to make the owl in one punch, body, eyes & heart.

 

  This is a 4.25x4.25 square card.  I use this 4 square layout a lot, it's a simple design that always delivers.   It's so simple that I don't have much chatter about it!  I just finished the set of birthday invitations I was working on so I hope to be back to posting projects more regularly.

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: A Little Birthday Cheer (retired)

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Pea DSP

Accessories: Owl Punch, 1 3/8" square punch, Bird punch (branch), button, linen thread

Halloween - What you can do with some Stampin' Up boxes!

  Sorry I haven't been posting a lot since last week.  It seems that this week is totally crazy with commitments, errands, cleaning for company this weekend (blech- I know you'd rather stamp too!) and just general stuff so I haven't been in my stamp room much to make any new projects.   But I thought you all might enjoy seeing what my husband and I made for our boys Halloween costumes.  This is what you get when you have a 4 year old say he wants to be a train for Halloween....and then the mommy says, "Like a train engineer?" and the 4 year old says, "No Mommy, a train." And then the Mommy tries to clarify by asking, "Like Thomas the Tank train honey?" (kind of hoping he says yes so I can buy one of those cheap plastic Thomas costumes) And the 4 year old replies very emphatically, "No, a REAL train."  And of course the 2 year old just gets swept up in big brothers costume plans because we all know if he doesn't get a REAL train costume there will be sad little tears.

  So without further ado, here is what the boys were for Halloween....

  Ryan was the "Engine" and Alex was the "Coal Car".  Alex originally was going to be a caboose but we just couldn't get a caboose we liked.  The Coal Car worked out perfectly though and they both looked super cute if I do say so myself.  The only thing I bought to make these was some black craft foam to make the wheels and the little windows on the engine.  Everything else was stuff we had laying around.  Leftover spray paint, cottons balls for the coal, solo cup for the headlight, bread crumb canister for the smoke stack and some landscaping ties for the straps to hold them on the boys shoulders.  Both boxes were from my Stampin' Up orders.  Other Stampin' Up supplies that were used were my circle punches to make the hubcaps, More Mustard cardstock for the hubcaps, paper snips to cut out the patterns for the numbers & letters printed on Whisper White cardstock.  So it's kind of a Stampin' Up project!  =)

  After we got home from trick-or-treating I made up a quick My Digital Studio project to send out to the family so they could see the boys all dressed up.

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  Hope you all had a nice Halloween!  I hope to get some new projects made in the next few days. 

Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Delightful Decorations Stamp-A-Stack

  Well here is the second card we did on Tuesday night.  I was very excited when the Delightful Decorations set made it into the big catalog this summer.  I got it when it was in the mini last year and only got to use it a few times so it was fun to be able to use it again. 

  The Christmas tree branch is actually the tall pine tree from Lovely As a Tree and is stamped using Wild Wasabi ink.  Using a craft knife I cut a small slit along one of the branches to thread silver tinsel trim through. 

  For the ornament I pulled a little trick out of my sleeve.  On the first sample that I made something was missing.  Even with the tinsel trim it was a little blah.  Then I remembered a technique with the shimmer paint that was popular when it first came out.  Mix a few drops of shimmer paint with a few drops of reinker.  Take a sponge dauber and lightly apply the shimmer paint/reinker mixture directly to your stamp.  You don't want to over load your stamp as it will make your image muddy and you'll lose some of the details as the ink mixture will puddle in the negative spaces.  Then stamp on your cardstock as usual. 

  Look at how shimmery it is!  Punch out your image with the ornament punch (remember my witch pencil topper a few posts ago?  Same punch!).  Wrap one end of the tinsel trim around the top of your ornament and then thread the other end through the slit cut with the craft knife.  I found that the tinsel kind of kept sliding down the wire as I tried to thread it through so I just folded that end over on itself before poking it through and that seemed to work.  Attach the ornament to the base with dimensionals.

  Trim the corners with the ticket corner punch, attach the top panel to a Perfect Plum panel and adhere all of that to the Sahara Sand base.  Add a sentiment to the inside (we used Four the Holidays set at the Stamp-a-Stack) and you're finished.

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Lovely As a Tree

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum (reinker)

Paper: Sahara Sand, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Silver Tinsel Trim, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Ornament punch, Ticket Corner punch, craft knife, dimensionals

Northern Flurry Stamp-A-Stack

  Last night I held my last Stamp-A-Stack of 2010.  Can you believe we are already approaching the end of the year?  I better get a move on with my Christmas cards!  Anyway, this is one of the 2 cards we did last night.  Each lady made 5 of each design.  I made this one so it would be more winter themed than Christmas in case people wanted to use it for after Christmas thank yous, or winter birthdays, or even Christmas.  I had a variety of sentiments for them to choose from so they could make the card just how they wanted it.  They could choose from these sets for their sentiment; Full Calendar, Thank You Kindly or Define Your Life.  These stamps fit nicely into the Decorative Label punch.

  I love these colors together.  The base of the card is Whisper White, then a layer of Not Quite Navy (I tended to overlook this color until the Color Renovation this summer and then I found all sorts of new combinations to use it in...it's the Dynamic Duo for Baja Breeze so it's perfect here!).  We ran the Baja Breeze layer through the Big Shot using the new Northern Flurry embossing folder (it's in the Holiday Mini).  Then for the tricky part!  You don't want to have too juicy of a white craft pad for this as we found out last night!  To make the embossed snowflakes stand out we gently tapped or rubbed the white craft pad over the raised image, just enough of the ink stuck to make the snowflakes look kind of white.  You don't want to tip or tilt your craft pad but hold it nice and parallel to your cardstock.  If any of the corners touch the cardstock you'll get a white blob!  Practice makes perfect here.

  Now on to the top layer of details.  A simple strip of 5/8" Whisper White satin ribbon anchors the Simple Snowflake stamped in Not Quite Navy and punched out with the Extra Large Snowflake punch.  The center of the snowflake is dressed up with a pearl and the whole shebang is adhered with a gluedot.  For my sample I stamped "December" from Full Calendar (this is a great set for scrappers!) in Baja Breeze and punched it out with the Decorative Label punch then I sponged the edges with Not Quite Navy ink.  That's popped up on dimensionals of course!

  I'll be back tomorrow with the second card we did!  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Simple Snowflake, Full Calendar

Ink: White Craft, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

Paper: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze

Accessories: Northern Flurry embossing folder, 5/8" satin ribbon, Snowflake punch, Decorative Label punch, pearls, glue dots, dimensionals

Happy Birthday Teacups

  I made this card last week for my mother-in-laws birthday.  She LOVES the color purple so I always try to make her card using purple.  She also really like tea so I wanted to use the Morning Cup stamp set.  The layout is from Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge 302 from last week.  The color combination is from Create With Connie and Mary Challenge 120.  This was a hard combination for me since I wanted the Elegant Eggplant to be prominent but the other colors are very strong as well.  Hopefully I pulled off some kind of balance and didn't totally butcher either challenge!

 The base of the card is Naturals White.  I stamped the little tea bag in white craft ink onto the Elegant Eggplant layer.  I used a strip of Whisper White 5/8" satin ribbon (again, LOVING the ribbon share and having all the colors to play with!) and used some retired Tempting Turquoise buttons at the top and bottom.  I just stuck them on using a glue dot.

  To do the tea cup panel I just stamped the stack of cups 3 times with Stazon onto watercolor paper and it was very easy to line up with the clear mount stamps and blocks.  I then watercolored them with my Aquapainter and ink squished from my ink pads onto the lids.

  I stamped the Happy Birthday on a piece of scrap paper and then just lined it up in part of the Decorative Label punch and got myself a cute little tab to stick under the tea cup panel.  I sponged the edge a little with some Tempting Turquoise.  All of that is layered on a rectangle of Wild Wasabi that was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

  A little satin bow down on the corner finishes off this card.  Hope you like it!  I'm off to do a little more preparation for my Stamp-A-Stack tonight!  For any of my local stampers; if you are not attending tonight but would like to place an order please let me know as soon as possible!  Look forward to seeing everyone tonight!


  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!


Stamps: Morning Cup, A Little Birthday Cheer (retired)

Ink: White Craft, Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi


Paper: Natural White, watercolor, Elegant Eggplant, Wild Wasabi


Accessories: Whisper White 5/8" satin, buttons (retired style), Aquapainter, Decorative Label punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Pencil Topper Halloween Treats

  My sons preschool does a Halloween carnival every year for the kids.  They have food, and games where they can win small prizes or candy and the kids get to come in their costumes.  The school asks that the parents donate the prizes for the games and of course I have to make something!  Last year I made these magnets from dominoes and from what I heard they were a sought after prize.  So this year I again wanted to do something stampy/crafty because you know I'm not going to just go out and buy some candy....it needs to be something cute! 

  I found some Halloween pencils in the Target Dollar Spot and they all had cute little Halloween pictures on them.  I decided I would make toppers for the pencils using the pictures as my inspiration.  I think I made 28 pencils-- there were 2 skull & crossbones pencils that I just didn't think were for the 3-5 year old crowd.  I made witches, cats, bats, jack-o-lanterns, and candy corn toppers.

  Here is a photo of all of them...

  They are all punch art except for the candy corn.  I basically made them all, added an extra panel on the back for support and stuck them to the top of the pencils with sticky strip.  All of the pieces are adhered with my 2 way glue pen (great way to get all these little pieces stuck where they needed to be).

 
Here is the little bat.  I used the instructions found here for the body and wings.  For the eyes I used the owl punch and for the fangs I used the tips from the small star punch.  I sponged the edges with white craft ink.

Supplies used: Black & Whisper White cardstock, owl punch, large oval punch, 3/4" circle punch, small star punch, white craft ink

   I know a lot of people don't like candy corn but I do....I mean I'm not going to eat an entire bag but I like the colored sugar enough for a handful or 2!

  For this one I adhered Daffodil Delight & Pumpkin Pie cardstock to a strip of Whisper White and then used my paper trimmer to cut the triangle shape.  I used the corner rounder twice on each corner to round them off...no one likes sharp edged candy right?


  Supplies used: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White cardstock, paper trimmer, corner rounder

  The pumpkin is the same as the one I made here on my 2 Tags Treat basket and I just added the Jack-o-Lantern face from the Autumn Harvest stamp set.

  Supplies used: Pumpkin Pie & Old Olive cardstock, black ink, large oval punch

  For the kitty I followed the instructions here but changed him to black and used the photo corner punch for the ears.  I also used the heart from the owl punch and trimmed it down for the nose.  This little guy is so cute and chubby...not really a Halloween cat but I didn't want to scare the kids!


  Supplies used: 1 3/4", 1 1/4" & 3/4" circle punches, owl punch (circle for nose &  heart for mouth), photo corner punch (ears), large oval punch (tail), googlie eyes, black ink (sponging)

          

  For the witch I got inspiration from all over and kind of combined different ideas using the punches I had on hand.

  The top of the hat is the large heart punch with the edges cut off and the word window punch for the brim.  The head is the ornament punch (so cool!  this punch can be used all year round, not just at Christmas!).  For the face I again used the circle from the owl punch and trimmed a little off the bottoms for the eyes and used the smallest circle for the pupils.  The nose is the same 2 circles--a witch has to have a wart right?  The mouth is hand drawn with my black marker.  The hair is the scallop oval punch cut in half.

  Supplies used: Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White & Certainly Celery cardstock, Large heart punch, word window punch, ornament punch, owl punch, scallop oval punch

And here is how all the pumpkins look attached to the pencils.  Hopefully the kids like them but even if they don't I had a lot of fun making them.  It's funny how each separate punch art piece has it's own little personality even though they are made out from the same materials!

 

  I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Happy Stamping & Thanks for looking!

Little Birdie Love Notes

  Just a quick post today before I have to go pick up the boys at preschool.  I made this little set of 3x3 cards to stick in my husbands luggage when he traveled a few weeks ago for work.  I always try to make a few cards to tuck into his bags to let him know that we're missing him and that we love him.  They usually aren't very elaborate cards since I tend to wait until the last minute to make them but I think these came out pretty cute anyway.  I might have to make another batch just to have them on hand for quick little notes to tuck in with a gift or as a small thank you.

  Sorry for the dark picture...It was hard getting all 3 cards in the right light at the same time.  Like I said these are all really fast and the only extras are the rounded corners and the brads at the tops of the cages.  I stamped the sentiments on scrap paper and punched them out with my word window punch. Since all of these sentiments are on a larger stamp with lots of phrases I wanted to be sure I got the words where I wanted them (another benefit of the clear mount stamps---you can see right where you're stamping!!).  This way I didn't get the whole card made and then goof it all up by stamping crooked or not in the right spot.  If you're tight on time better safe than sorry right?

  I have some cute (if I do say so myself!) Halloween treats to show so stop back tomorrow and check them out!

  Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Aviary, So Many Sayings (retired)

Ink: Black, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: brads, jeweled brad, corner rounder, word window punch

Welcome Baby Charlie!

  Our next door neighbors (she's also one of my Stamping Ladies!) just welcomed their 3rd child into the world.  Charlie is a little sweetie and he's got this great head of dark hair.  Since she now has 2 boys and I have 2 boys along with a few other little boys in the neighborhood we're looking forward to some crazy rough and tumble days ahead of us.  So I thought it was appropriate to make a baby card with a truck on it.  Here's what I came up with!

   I used the Color Coach for the color combination of Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler.  They aren't traditional baby colors but it's the fall now and I was itching to keep with the season.  I stamped the truck on watercolor paper with Stazon ink then watercolored with my Aquapainter and Pumpkin Pie ink.  I used my Watercolor Wonder crayons to do the tires, hubcaps, bumpers and lights.  I stamped the "C" for Charlie in Night of Navy and then cut it out and put it in the truck bed.  A boy truck has to be hauling something right?  I added some Crystal Effects to the hubcaps to make them shiny.

  For the scalloped frame around the truck I just punched out several strips of Cherry Cobbler with my scallop edge punch and just lined them up around the edges and snipped off the excess (someday I'm going to have to spring for the Big Shot scallop square dies!).  I ran the base of my card through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I added a quick 5/8" satin bow to sweeten it up since Charlie isn't quite ready yet to play in the mud with the big boys.  I just did a ribbon share with my stamp club and I took one of the shares and let me tell you....I am LOVING having ribbon in all 13 of the colors it comes in.  I'm going to have to offer another one soon so I can get some of the other ribbon varieties as well.  I think I'm spoiled now!

Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Loads of Love, Defining Alphabet

Ink: Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy

Paper: Watercolor paper, Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: 5/8" satin ribbon, scallop edge punch, Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder crayons, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Crystal Effects

Morning Cup File Folder Card

  So back when I was a working woman (for an actual paycheck, not just the love and joy of cleaning up after my 2 boys) I had several co-workers that this card would have been perfect for.  They were all about their morning coffee and heaven forbid if the wrong person made the coffee in the morning it would just ruin the rest of the day for them.  So, pair the stamp set Morning Cup with a file folder style card and you've got the perfect card for a co-worker!

  I saw this style of card a while back (don't even remember where) and thought it would be a good "Fun Fold" card to teach my stamp club so I wrote the idea down.  When I tried to find instructions I didn't find too many instructions so I took what I could find (again, have no idea where) and went to work.  Needless to say, several sheets of Very Vanilla cardstock were sacrificed to my total ineptitude at making a file folder card.  I kept cutting the wrong side so my tab never lined up where it was supposed to.  I persevered like the diligent stamper that I am and finally came up with this!

   Isn't it cute?  I loved my job before I had my kids but if I had file folders that looked as cute as this one I would have loved it even more!  Once I worked out where I needed to cut and where I needed to use the corner rounder it was all good.  I used some retired Sweet Pea DSP and my Color Coach to get the color combo of Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant & Baja Breeze.  The coffee pot was colored with reinkers & a blender pen and I added a little rhinestone to the lid.

  Here is the inside....See how I was thinking of alternating the colors of the mugs all the way across?  See how that didn't quite happen?  The 4 year old at my elbow and his never-ending questions about items in my stamp room kind of distracted me.  I know some of you out there understand that!  =)  But even if my coloring leaves something to be desired at least it's a good view of file folder shape!

Maybe once I can master this card on my own I'll be able to teach it at stamp club!

Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Morning Cup

Ink: Stazon, Rose Red, Baja Breeze, Elegant Eggplant

Paper: Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Sweet Pea DSP

Accessories: corner rounder, blender pen, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, circle punch, scallop circle punch, rhinestones

Two Tags Treat Basket

  I made this cute little treat basket as a customer thank you for anyone who ordered in September.  I ended up making about 16 of them.  The basket is really easy to make and I followed this tutorial on Dawn Olchefske's blog. 

  I wanted to make mine with a fall theme and decided to do a "pumpkin patch".  First I cut out my 2 tags with the Two Tags Die and my Big Shot using Old Olive cardstock.  To make the vines I stamped the large swirl stamp from Baroque Motifs with Old Olive ink.  I made the pumpkin by punching out 3 large ovals, sponging the edges with Pumpkin Pie ink and then stacking them up and adding a little stem.  This one is my prototype but for the final project I made the stems out of Garden Green since in this one the stem just blended into the background when I used Old Olive.

  I made the name banner out of scrap Very Vanilla (you know me and my scraps!) and sponged the edges with Old Olive.  I used my Early Espresso marker to hand write the names (hopefully my customers could tell it was their name as I have horrible handwriting!).  I adhered the banner with dimensionals.  For my customer baskets I used Old Olive brads to attach the handle since I didn't have enough of the metallic ones for 16 baskets.  I tied a few pieces of hemp twine around the handle to give it some more personality.

  And finally I filled the baskets with 3 Ghirardelli chocolate squares.  Yummy!

Thanks for looking!  Happy Stamping!

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Two Tags Die, hemp twine, brads, dimensionals, sponges, large oval punch, marker, CHOCOLATES!

September Stamp Club Swaps

  Just a quick post today to share the swap cards I received from a few of my Stampin' Ladies (that's what my 4 year old calls my stamp club) in our swap last month. The first is Andrea's card....Isn't this a great color combination using the Woodland Walk DSP?  I love the circles and the popped up butterfly.  Great job cutting out the butterfly don't you think?

Andrea's Card

    Here is Holly's card.  This is one of my favorite color combinations since Rich Razzleberry was introduced.  The eyelet border punch along the one edge is really sweet!  Great friend card!

Holly's Card

  And here is Liz's card.  I really like how she just stamped the tops of the trees from Trendy Trees.   The rounded corners at the top are a really nice touch too!  I always feel I have to match all 4 corners but I need to remember to try it this way too.

Liz's Card

  Thanks for checking out my talented Stampin' Ladies!  Happy Stamping!