Vintage Bookmark

  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed the time with family and friends.  We enjoyed ours for sure.  It was nice to see all the family in Connecticut and get to visit with them for a few days.  Now we're back to the grindstone gearing up for Christmas.

  Today's project is one that I made quite a while ago and never shared.  I was involved in a bookmark swap organized by my friend Patti a long time ago.   I thought now might be good time to show it as it could be paired with a book as a Christmas gift...if anyone still reads actual books out there! 

  First I stamped my flowers from Vintage Vogue in Rich Razzleberry onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  Then I carefully cut them out with my paper snips (the best!!).  Next I covered each flower with a healthy layer of Crystal Effects and let dry overnight.

  I punched a scallop circle and a smaller circle from textured Old Olive and crumpled them up a few times to give them a worn look. 

  I cut a length of satin ribbon and trimmed the ends up nicely.  I just grabbed a larger hard backed book I had laying around to make sure the ribbon was a good length.  Next, I sandwiched the textured cardstock scalloped circle behind the ribbon and layered the flower on top.  I used my piercing tool to poke a hole all the way through the layers and adhered them with a vintage brad.  This was repeated with the smaller circle and small flower at the bottom of the bookmark.

   It's kind of hard to see in the photo but the Crystal Effects gives the flowers a nice shine and thickens them up quite a bit to help them withstand the wear and tear of being dragged around in a book. 

  Off to cook and clean in preparation for stamp club tonight and tomorrow night!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Vintage Vogue

Ink: Rich Razzleberry


Paper: Very Vanilla, Old Olive textured

Accessories: Scallop Circle punch, circle punch, satin ribbon, vintage brads, Crystal Effects

The Real Reason for Christmas

  If you can believe it people are already decorated for Christmas around here!!  It's not even Thanksgiving yet people!!  There are 2 houses on our way to my sons preschool that are all decked out with the blow up decorations, light up deer, candy canes and lights.  And they've been that way for 2 weeks!!  I saw someone's Christmas tree inside all lit up.  Are there even real Christmas trees for sale yet??  Anyway, I see all this stuff and feel like we're being rushed onto the next season or holiday before we've even had a chance to celebrate the current one.  I don't know if it's the marketing media that is causing this or what but I solidly refuse to even think about Christmas (besides cards!) until I've had a chance to celebrate and give thanks on Thanksgiving.  Next year, people will have their Halloween and Christmas decorations out at the same time!  Come on people!  =)

  Since the only Christmas spirit that I'm willing to get into yet is making cards I'm going to share this one.  I'm embarrassed to say that I've had this set since July and this is the first card I've made with it.  I didn't even have the stickers on the rubber until I sat down to make this card.  It's a beautiful set and perfect for watercoloring (which I am not terribly good at but I'm trying!).  Over on Splitcoaststampers there is a group of demos called the Creative Crew which issues challenges every month.  All are welcome to play along so I decided to make this card for one of the challenges.  This one was to make an easel card using the Letters to Santa DSP or the colors that are in this DSP.  I went with the colors since I wanted the focus to be on the Holy Family.

  The base of the card is Early Espresso with a layer of Marina Mist.  I stamped the image with Stazon on watercolor paper.  I used all the colors from the Letters to Santa DSP to watercolor with an Aquapainter and inkpads.  Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, and Blushing Bride.  I did use a bit of Soft Suede to color in the cow since the Early Espresso kept turning pink (!!) on me.  I guess EE is a red based brown and for some reason I kept getting a pink hue.  I had to layer it on thick for the donkey and you can still kind of see some red in him.  I knew a red cow just wasn't going to make this an attractive card so for the sake of everyone's eyes I used a little bit of Soft Suede.  Also to add a bit of detail I outlined the whole image with a very light layer of Crumb Cake.

  The star is filled in with Dazzling Details to make it sparkle and shine.  Baby Jesus' blue blanket has a very light layer of white shimmer paint that I brushed on with a dried Aquapainter.  I also added an Early Espresso fork bow to the right side. 

  To make this easel card stand up and display the image I used a strip of Marina Mist embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the inside.  I then cut out a half scallop circle from the Petal Cone die and stamped the sentiment with Stazon.  I popped the half scallop circle up on dimensionals to help keep the easel card open.

  Here's the side view of the card opened....

  I don't know if I'm going to be able to give this card away...maybe I'll make some more and keep one for myself so I can display it during Thanksgiving....oops I mean during Christmas!  =)

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tidings of Joy

Ink: Stazon, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake

Paper: watercolor paper, Marina Mist, Early Espresso

Accessories: Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Petal Cone die, satin ribbon, Dazzling Details, white Shimmer Paint

Welcome Baby Holly!

  I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!  I didn't get much stamping in but I did cut all the paper and gathered the supplies needed for my clubs next week.  So at least I was productive in the stamp room, just didn't produce any cards!

  Today's card is one that I made for a new baby.  Our dear friends had a daughter at the end of September and while we've seen her several times since she was born we just gave a gift yesterday.  I like to give a personalized gift especially for second babies as the parents most of the time already have all the essentials and don't need duplicates.  Also, it's more fun to get something with the baby's name on it.  I ordered a personalized storybook so I had to wait a few weeks for it to be made.  That gave me plenty of time to make a card but I still waited until the end of last week to make it.  I guess I work better under pressure?  Who knows!

  I combined the Create with Connie & Mary sketch challenge shown HERE and the Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge 349 HERE.

  Not a typical baby card with pastels and such but I thought these colors would be fun anyway.

  The base is Calypso Coral and I embossed a panel of Whisper White with the Stripes embossing folder to layer on top.  The color blocked panels are Lucky Limeade polka dotted DSP, Baja Breeze cardstock stamped with the A to Z mini background stamp and Calypso Coral striped DSP.  I rounded the edges of some of these layers to soften the look a little.

  I punched a scallop oval and embossed it with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (are you getting the stripes and dots theme??).  Next I die cut 2 "h's" one in thin cardboard and the other in Calypso Coral.  I like mounted my die cut letters on a matching cardboard one to give it more dimension and make it look more substantial like chipboard.  I embossed the "h" with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  The "h" is popped up on dimesionals.

  I dressed up the letter with a Baja Breeze Itty Bitty punch pack flower and rhinestone.  At the top I stamped "welcome baby" from Petite Pairs in Lucky Limeade and punched it out with a small oval punch (I think this size is retired and I still can't figure out why...it's a great size).  I clipped it to the "h" with a mini clothespin (SO CUTE!!) with a white baker's twine bow.

  All in all a quick but sweet card for a sweetie pie of a baby.

  Some Stampin' Up! Sale News!


  There are some great deals on all kinds of great Stampin' Up! products from now until November 30th.  Order through my online store to get the savings on 2 specially priced items just for today!  The Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps and the Simply Scored are discounted just for today.  For my local ladies, you can add any of the sale items to your stamp club orders next Tuesday & Wednesday (except for the "today only" items and digital downloads which must be ordered online).  Online orders will not count towards your club commitment though...Sorry!  The sale prices will show when you add items to your shopping cart.  Just call or e-mail if you have any questions!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: A to Z, Petite Pairs

Ink: Lucky Limeade, Baja Breeze

Paper: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Lucky Limeade DSP, Calypso Coral DSP

Accessories: Stripes e.f., Perfect Polka Dots e.f., Square Lattice e.f., Simple Alphabet die, mini clothespin, bakers twine, scallop circle punch, small oval punch, Itty Bitty punch flower, rhinestone, dimensionals, corner rounder