Teacher Appreciation Week - Day 3

  Here is the Day 3 Teacher Appreciation Week project.  Chocolate Bundles!  I stacked up 3 Ghiradelli chocolate squares and then wrapped them with a band of Sunny Garden DSP.  I used my 2 Tags die again for the tag in Peach Parfait.  I embellished the outside of the tag with butterflies cut with the Beautiful Wings embosslit and scraps of my Sunny Garden DSP.  Each butterfly was dressed up with an adhesive rhinestone in the center.  The tag was tied on with 1/8" Whisper White taffeta ribbon.  The inside sentiment is from the Smarty Pants set and I stamped it in Pear Pizzazz.  Sorry for the crappy photo....something is going on with my camera and I have no idea what it is!  I think there is something on the inside of the lens.  I called several camera places and none of them do in-house repairs; they'd have to send it out and it would take 4-6 weeks!  No way I can be without my camera for 6 weeks!  Ack!

   This a short post as I have a lot of things going on and have to move on to the next thing on my " to do" list!  Check back tomorrow for the next Teacher Appreciation Week project.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Smarty Pants

Ink: Pear Pizzazz

Paper: Sunny Garden DSP, Peach Parfait, Whisper White

Accessories: 2 Tags die, Beautiful Wings embosslit, adhesive rhinestones, 1/8" taffeta ribbon

Teacher Appreciation Week - Day 2

  For the second day of Teacher Appreciation week at my sons' preschool I made a Thank You card for each of the teachers.  Nothing really fancy here since when I designed it I was planning on having other parents help make all the items and I didn't want it to be too complicated a design since I didn't know if anyone else would have any stamping experience.  I didn't want to have a "deer in the headlights" situation so I went with a Clean and Simple (CAS) style.  This would be a great card for beginner stampers.

  Again,  I stayed with the same color combination.  Each card was slightly different since I used the Sunny Garden DSP and just changed which patterns I used for the 3 background panels.

   I used my markers to color the flower stamp from the Hello Again set and added a rhinestone to the center.  The "Thank You" from the Thank You Kindly set was stamped in Poppy Parade.  I put a little 1/8" taffeta bow in the lefthand corner to balance out the top panel.

  Check back tomorrow for another Teacher Appreciation project!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  Stamps: Hello Again, Thank You Kindly

  Ink: Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight & Pear Pizzazz (markers)

  Paper: Poppy Parade, Sunny Garden DSP, Whisper White

  Accessories: 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones

Teacher Appreciation Week - Day 1

  So this week at my boys' preschool we're having Teacher Appreciation Week.  The school is our church's preschool and while it's not huge we have a terrific group of teachers who are so dedicated it's the least we can do to show that we really appreciate them and all that they do for our kids.  The Booster Club president and I came up with some ideas for a little something special for the teachers for each day of the week.  Some of the teachers only teach on certain days so we didn't want any of them to miss out just by doing one or 2 things.  Along with breakfast on Monday and Tuesday, lunch on Wednesday and Thursday and a gift card on Friday I've made a little treat for them for each day.  I was supposed to host a little party at my house for other parents to help make the little gifts but with Easter, Mother's Day and various schedules to work around it just didn't happen so I've been plugging away at making 14 of each item. 

  Yesterday was the first day of Teacher Appreciation and each teacher was given a large flower vase.  The kids were asked to bring in a flower for each of their teachers to put into the vases.  To dress the vase up I came up with these little flower tags with the teacher's name on them.  We just tied the tag around the vase with the grosgrain ribbon.  Please excuse my poor handwriting, I know it looks awful!  Also the picture is not the best as I finished up the tags on Sunday night and forgot to take a photo with my light box and only just remembered right before leaving the house on Monday morning...so my scratched up (thank you Matchbox cars!) window sill will have to do but I'm sure you can get the idea.

    This was a pretty easy project and I did most of it sitting on the couch watching TV.  The base of the tag is made from the 2 Tags Big Shot die using Poppy Parade cardstock.  For the name I punched out a wide oval in Whisper White, sponged the edges with Pear Pizzazz and then wrote the names with my Poppy Parade marker. 

  For the ruffled flower I just punched out 5 scalloped circles from the Sunny Garden DSP.  I used this color scheme and DSP for all the projects for a cohesive look throughout the week...and also to save on costs...you can get a ton of projects out of 1 pack of DSP and about 20 sheets of cardstock!  Anyway back to the flower...I crumpled up and flattened each scallop circle several times to give it that softer look.  I stacked all 5 scalloped circles and then stuck a jeweled rhinestone brad through the center and then through the tag.  I did use my paper piercer to make a guide hole first so it would be easier to push the brad through all those layers.

  To make the leaf, all I did was punch out a scalloped oval from Pear Pizzazz cardstock, fold it in half lengthwise and put it through the crimper (bet you haven't used your crimper in forever!!) and then unfold it.  The leaf is just adhered underneath the bottom layer of the flower. 

  It's hard to tell in the photo but the white grosgrain ribbon to tie around the vase is just stuck through the brad prongs and then the prongs are flattened back out.  I figured the teachers could always take the ribbon off and use it as a bookmark or something if they wanted.

  Stay tuned tomorrow for the next project!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: None

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade (marker)

Paper: Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Sunny Garden DSP, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: 2 Tags Die, Wide Oval punch, Scalloped Circle punch, rhinestone brad, grosgrain ribbon, crimper, paper piercer

Party Hearty Birthday

  I have a lot of projects to share this week as I made a lot of items for teacher appreciation week at my sons'  preschool.  I'll try to reveal one a day starting tomorrow but for today I'm going to show a card I made a while ago but just haven't blogged about.  It relates to the special promotion that Stampin' Up is offering this month.

  The month of May is National Scrapbooking month and Stampin' Up! is offering a special of 30% off select scrapbooking stamp sets, special My Digital Studio download bundles as well as some My Digital Studio print items.  Very cool stuff!  While I am not much of a scrapbooker (boy, am I intimidated by a whole 12x12 blank page!!! I should probably get over that huh??) these stamp sets totally work for cardmaking as well.  Check out the list HERE to make sure you don't miss out on a great sale price.  30% off of some of the clear mount sets is a terrific deal.  If you have any questions just let me know.

  Party Hearty is one of the sets that's is being offered at 30% off.  I love the little row of party hats and I've even used them upside down as a cool party banner.  This would be a good guy card or a girl card.  The bright colors and neutral Early Espresso can go either way.  I was inspired to use these colors by a bedding set in the Company Store catalog.

  The base is Marina Mist and then a Whisper White panel topped by an Early Espresso panel.  I added a lot of texture by running the Early Espresso panel through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice embossing folder. 

  I inked up the party hats with my markers and then stamped them on Whisper White and layered it on another Early Espresso and Marina Mist panel.  I added a quick little scallop border on the bottom. 

  I used my markers again to ink up the tag stamp and punched it out with the small tag punch and layered it with a larger tag of Marina Mist.  A quick snip of Whisper White satin ribbon and an orange brad for a pop of color in the corner and this card is finished.

  Don't forget to check out the scrapbooking special! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Party Hearty

Ink: Markers - Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Early Espresso


Accessories: Square Lattice embossing folder, brad, satin ribbon, scallop edge border punch

Strength & Hope Birthday

  Here is the card that I sent to my aunt last week for her birthday.  It's a fun shimmery girlie kind of card.  I don't usually make girlie cards....having 2 messy little boys kind of keeps me away from anything pretty since it will probably get grubby handprints on it anyway!  But this butterfly from the Strength & Hope set in the Summer mini was just calling for some girlie colors, ribbon and Smooch Spritz.

  The base is Perfect Plum that was embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  I also used vanilla Smooch Spritz which I hope you can see in the photo.  For the butterfly layer I stamped the swirl accent stamp in Crumb Cake onto Very Vanilla.  I rounded the corners and sponged the edges with Perfect Plum.  I stamped the butterfly on Very Vanilla and then used my paper snips to cut it out.  The Smooch Spritz found it way onto the butterfly.  I added a small strip of adhesive pearls for the body and then adhered a little snippet of linen thread to the back for the antennae.  I slightly bent in the wings before adhering the butterfly with a dimensional so the wings stick out a bit more, though after going through the mail who knows what the wings look like!

   The Rose Red layer is a little piece of Sweet Pea DSP that I had left over, rounded those edges too (a great current product to try instead would be the DSP Stacks on page 175 of the Idea Book & Catalog, they come in each of the color collections so you get a great variety).  Then for the top and bottom I punched out a strip with Scallop Trim border punch in Very Vanilla.  The final touch was a ruffled ribbon seam binding bow (Click here for a ruffled ribbon tutorial) with a gorgeous Vintage brad.

  Don't forget to check out the Hope & Strength set in the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini catalog on page 27.  For each Hope & Strength set sold, Stampin' Up! is donating $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help support their efforts of prevention and finding a cure in our lifetime.  What a great cause to support!  Think about adding this stamp set to your next order or click HERE to begin shopping.

  Thank for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps:Strength & Hope

Ink: Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake


Paper: Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Sweet Pea DSP (retired)


Accessories: Very Vanilla seam binding, Vintage brad, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, adhesive pearls, linen thread, dimensionals, Scallop Trim border punch, Elegant Lines embossing folder

In Color Bird

  Wow!  I feel like I've gotten a lot of stamping done this week!  Here is a card that I made yesterday using the Sketch Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.  I usually have pretty basic layouts and the sketch challenge helps me get outside of my boring box.  I still can't decide if this is too busy or what....maybe it's the mixing of patterns that's throwing me off.  Anyway, I do like the color combination I choose; Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait--All In Colors.  This summer Stampin' Up will release 5 more In Colors to give us a total of 10!  It's always exciting to see the new colors and start to create new combinations and favorites.

  The base of this card is Concord Crush which is such a deep rich color.  Next I have a panel of Peach Parfait topped with a Whisper White panel that is embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  The 2 overlapping panels of DSP are from the current In Color Hostess DSP pack (Level 1).  Lots of fun patterns in this pack.

  For the bird panel I punched the bird out with the 2 Step Bird punch and then trimmed off his Concord Crush beak and added a Peach Parfait one.  I popped up the wing on a dimensional and then hit it all with a good spray of Vanilla Smooch Spritz so now the little cutie is all sparkly.  I added a little dot for an eye using a metallic Sharpie.  The 2 sets of leaves were punched out of Pear Pizzazz and layered to make them more full.

  Now for the part that took me the longest...yes, even longer than my hemming and hawing over all the patterned paper and if it was too busy or not.  The bow!  I used the Pear Pizzazz seam binding ribbon to make a fork bow which looked nice but I wanted it to be a little bit more interesting.  I pulled out a Peach Parfait Glimmer Brad thinking I would put it around the center knot in my bow.  First I tried to jam the prongs through the center but the knot was just too thick.  Next,  I couldn't get the prongs pulled apart enough to wrap them around the knot.  So I went down to the garage and got a pair of needle nose pliers to try to pull the prongs out more.  Well, I guess the Glimmer Brads just aren't meant to be used with regular tools or I'm just too strong (not sure which!) because I pulled one of the prongs right off!  Not one to waste an embellishment I headed back upstairs to see what I could do with just one prong.  I figured at least I had more room for my bow now!  So I get back upstairs to the stamp room and sit down and then the other prong fell off!!  On to the next the plan...I got out my Tombow glue and squeezed a healthy amount onto the center of the bow and then stuck on was what left of my poor Glimmer Brad!  Since the prongs were long gone I used a few glue dots to hold my bow down to the card. Whew!  That was a lot of time spent on one bow huh?

  Thanks for making it this far!  I hope all the moms out there get to celebrate a nice Mother's Day with all those that are near and dear to you.   Make sure you call your mommy this weekend to tell her that you love her!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: None

Ink: None

Paper: Whisper White, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, In Color Hostess DSP pack

Accessories: Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Glimmer Brad, seam binding ribbon, Smooch Spritz, 2 Step Bird punch

Happy Birthday to My Honey!

  It's my husband's birthday today so he's finally as old as I am!  He takes great pleasure in teasing me because I'm all of 2 months older than he is.  Even my older son is starting to say stuff like, "Mommy gets to go first because she's the oldest".  We started the morning off with a little parade with musical instruments and the Happy Birthday song.  The parade participants were all decked out in party hats and leis and the birthday boy was quite surprised (or at least he pretended to....Alex is not a good secret keeper!).  Then we went downstairs for a breakfast of Eggs Benedict since that's Matt's favorite breakfast.  He did open his cards from the boys and I before heading to work so I can go ahead and show you the card I made for him without giving anything away.

  This card was so fun to make since once I had my basic design in my head I just kept adding little details and embellishments until I felt satisfied that it was complete!  There is a lot going on here so there is something to look at all over.  And since it was going to be hand delivered I didn't have worry about it being too lumpy to send through the mail.

  The base is Crumb Cake and the circles are punched out of the Welcome Neighbor DSP from Sale-A-Bration last year.  Use whatever paper you have on hand for a collage like this, anything works if you stick to a few main colors.  All the sentiments were stamped from the Bring on the Cake set.  I used various punches as well as hand cutting for the little banners and signs. 

  To make the "34" I used my simple numbers Big Shot die, some thin cardboard and some more DSP, just cut them out and glued the DSP to the chipboard numbers.  I distressed the edges of the numbers by using a Q-tip and my Soft Suede inkpad.  Normally I would use a sponge but I needed something smaller to get into the little tight spots.  The Q-tip worked well.  The numbers are popped up on dimensionals as are most of the sentiments.

  We're looking forward to more birthday celebrations with a special dinner, birthday cake and presents tonight.  Check the supply list below for all the items that I used to create this card.

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bring on the Cake, Itty Bitty Bits


Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Old Olive, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise


Paper: Crumb Cake, Welcome Neighbor DSP, Whisper White, Old Olive, More Mustard textured, Pumpkin Pie, thin cardboard


Accessories: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, Itty Bitty shapes punch pack, sm. circle punch, Vintage Trinkets, Tempting Turquoise button (retired design), Linen Thread, dimensionals, Word Window punch, Antique Brad, Itty Bitty button (heart), Baker's Twine, Mini Library Clip, glue dots (to adhere the buttons)

Happy Bird Day Challenge Card

  Just a quick post today before I have to go get the boys at school.  I was actually able to play along with the Clean & Simple Challenge (CAS) over on Splitcoaststampers today.  This is one of my favorite color combinations as you might have figured out by how often I use the Elegant Soiree DSP!

  Since this is a clean and simple challenge the card is pretty basic and self-explanatory.  I did use some of the new Baker's Twine that just came out in the new Summer mini.  It's a great lightweight option to the linen thread...and you get a lot of it so you don't have to feel like you need to hoard it!  The banner is hand cut and I added a little heart bitty button with some more of the Baker's Twine threaded through and a Whisper White punched heart backing it.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Aviary, Bring on the Cake

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake

Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Baja Breeze


Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, bitty button, Baker's Twine, corner rounder punch, dimensionals, Heart to Heart punch (for the small white heart behind the button)

Christmas Bench

  I'm still sticking to my resolution of getting my Christmas cards done early this year, one month at a time.  Here is my April card!  I made 10 if these and they came together pretty fast.  I thought I had seen a similar card somewhere last year with this idea but when I went searching for it I couldn't find it anywhere so maybe I dreamed it.  If you made a card like this last year please let me know as I'd love to give you the credit for this fabulous idea.

 

  I had some Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP that was leftover from a year or 2 ago that I wanted to use up and it gave this card a little bit of sparkle to jazz it up.  On the Early Espresso base I stamped the snowflake from Berry Christmas (retired) and then embossed the "Merry Christmas" from Four the Holidays with white embossing powder.  Remember to use your embossing buddy before you do this step since stray embossing powder will get everywhere and show up against the dark cardstock....Ask me how I know!

 
  For the bench panel I stamped the image in Early Espresso.  Don't you love this bench from the Have a Seat set?  I've seen quite a few really cute cards with these little chairs and bench.  To make the wreath I punched out the mini scallop circles from textured Garden Green cardstock.  The mini scallop circle punch is part of the Itty Bitty shapes punch pack which I'm using way more than I thought I would when I first got it.  I punched 8 for each wreath, layering 4 down first and then the other 4 staggered on top of the first set.  A Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon tops off this Christmas bench.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?
***Edited to Add: One of my stamping ladies remembered seeing the wreath/bench idea on Becky Robert's blog so the credit goes to her for this fabulous idea.  To see one of the cards she made click here.   Thanks Holly! ***

Stamps: Have A Seat, Four the Holidays, Berry Christmas (retired)

Ink: Early Espresso, Versamark

Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP, Garden Green textured


Accessories: white embossing powder, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack