Thank You Treat Pouch

 I've had this project just sitting here since last Valentine's Day.  I made them as thank you for customer orders but never shared it on the blog for some reason.  I have lots of projects to show you but will wait until after my stamping ladies see them tonight and tomorrow morning.  I also have Creative Crew projects that I will show soon too once the gallery goes live tomorrow!

  This fold is called a diaper fold.  You can find specific instructions HERE on Splitcoaststampers.  I filled my pouches with Dove chocolates.

 

  You can change the DSP and embellishments to suit any occasion.  For these I used Pretty in Pink DSP from the Subtles Collection DSP pack.  The stamp set is Filled with Love which is retired but you can easily substitute any punched or stamped heart.  I used Melon Mambo ink which shows up nicely against the Pretty in Pink.  The other little embellishment is the Whisper White grosgrain ribbon which I knotted in the center and secured behind the flap.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Filled with Love (retired)

Ink: Melon Mambo

Paper: Subtles Collection DSP pack, Whisper White

Accessories: Large Heart punch, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon

Framelits Heart Valentine

  Is everyone gearing up for Valentine's day?  Our family doesn't make a huge deal of it; no gifts or large ostentatious flower arrangements.  A few exchanged cards (of course!!) and a yummy steak dinner eaten in the dining room with the good china and crystal is our big celebration.  The boys think it's great fun to decorate the dining room and eat by candlelight!  I hope to find the time to make a few decorations but in the meantime here is a card that I made when I was designing the cards for my upcoming club meetings.  This one was cute I thought but it didn't make the cut as I wanted to use more of the new products from the Occasions mini.

 
  Isn't this a super fun set of colors?  I love the bit of Pumpkin Pie since it's kind of an unexpected color for Valentine's day.

  The base is Melon Mambo and then a layer of Basic Gray.  The fun comes in on the top panel.  I used the new Hearts Framelits to die cut 3 heart shapes in the Whisper White panel (the large heart, the orange heart and the Melon Mambo on on the bottom left).  One of the great things about the framelits are that you can place them anywhere on your cardstock....you're not limited like with punches where you can only reach the punch so far or in only a certain direction. 

  I used some Designer Series paper, textured cardstock and plain cardstock and layered small pieces of it behind the heart cut outs.  Then I used the Adorning Accents hearts embossing folder to emboss towards the bottom.  I wrapped a piece of 1/8" taffeta ribbon around the embossed part and then topped it with the sentiment punched with the Decorative Label punch.

  I added a few more hearts punched with the Small Heart punch and the Heart to Heart punch.  Gave a few of them some rhinestones and called it done.

  Go ahead and bust out your heart stamps, heart punches and get going on those Valentine's day cards.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Delightful Dozen

Ink: Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie marker (sentiment is colored in a bit)

Paper: Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie textured, Subtles Collections DSP pack

Accessories: Hearts Framelits, Small Heart Punch, Heart to Heart punch, Adorning Accents embossing folder , 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Decorative Label punch, rhinestones

50th Birthday Card

  Good morning!  First of all I want to apologize for yesterday's post.  I tried 3 times to get it to post the way I wanted and it just wasn't happening.  So if you tried to read it through a reader and it was totally screwed up I'm so sorry.  Sometimes technology just doesn't work!  Hopefully this post will go up with out a hitch!  There wasn't a project yesterday just details about Sale-A-Bration beginning so you didn't miss any creative genius (Ha!!) or anything.  If you want more details about how to earn some awesome Sale-a-bration FREEBIES just let me know or check out this link at my online store.

  I made this card last week for a birthday party we attended over the weekend.  It was for a guy turning 50.  Hard card to make huh?  I looked through my stamps hoping to find one that jumped out at me to be used for this occasion and nothing was jumping at all!  The birthday guy is a friend of my husband's from hockey so I don't know him terribly well at all so that makes this card even harder to make.  When in doubt check the Color Coach and stick with something clean and simple!

  You really can't go wrong with a basic, clean layout for guy cards.  The base is Sahara Sand and I cut a just slightly smaller piece of Sahara Sand and ran it through the Big Shot with the Stripes embossing folder.  I added some really, really old, retired silver diamond shaped brads (cause really, it's a guy and does he care that the product is retired....Nope!).  I popped this whole panel up on dimensionals and then went to work on the focal point.

  When I consulted the Color Coach it said 2 colors to pair with Sahara Sand are Pacific Point and Cajun Craze.  Perfect guy colors!  I punched out 2 circles of each color with my 1 3/8" circle punch and lined them up centered on the card front.

  I pulled out my Silver Glimmer paper (see, you can use Glimmer paper even for a guy's 50th birthday card!  It's all occasions really!) and used my Alphabet Simple Numbers dies to crank out a 5 and a 0.  The numbers are also popped up with dimensionals. 

  I didn't take a photo of the inside but I stamped the "Happy Birthday" stamp from Delightful Dozen for a nice sentiment on the inside. 

  Done & Done! Super easy for a super cool guy birthday card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: None

Ink: None

Paper: Sahara Sand, Pacific Point, Cajun Craze and Silver Glimmer paper

Accessories: Stripes embossing folder, silver diamond brads (retired), 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals, Alphabet Simple Numbers dies

Sale-A-Bration Starts Today!

  Good morning stampers!  It's a great day when you can earn FREE Sale-a-bration products from Stampin' Up!

  For each $50 in orders (before tax & shipping) you can earn 1 FREE Sale-a-bration (SAB) products!  There is no limit to how many you can earn!  Place an order for $150 and you get 3 FREE SAB products, a free reusable tote (sooo cute!) and $25 in hostess dollars to use any way you want in the catalog!
 
  Joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator also gets you a great deal!  The starter kit is just $125!  It has everything you need to get started stamping!  Stampin' Up! will also give you a free pack of Designer Series paper or a Digital Download each month for the rest of year!

  If you are interested in learning more about the great deals during SAB check out this link HERE for more details or contact me and I'll make sure you get the most for your order!!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Red Hearts Valentine

  We're well on the way to February 14th and Valentine's Day aren't we??  Our family usually sends cards out to the extended family with a sweet photo of the boys.  This year the cards will be done but I'm thinking that the sweet photo might be more of a challenge.  I just can't get both of them to 1) look at the camera at the same time and 2) both smile NICELY at the same time.  We always end up with one looking cute and the other looking like some alien we picked up on the side of the road.  We might have to utilize Photoshop this year and switch heads and bodies to get 1 decent shot!

  Anyway on to the card.  This is the second project my office stamping ladies did last week at their class.  I told them they couldn't hoard the card, that they had to give it to someone for Valentine's day.  I even suggested that if they were giving it to a husband or boyfriend they could write the sentiment on the inside with a sticky note and then take the card back to keep for themselves!  Anyway, what good is making all these cards if we don't send them out to brighten someone's day??  You can always make more cards when you've given away your stash!

 

  This is a Real Red Valentine don't you think?  We used the I {Heart} Hearts and the Delightful Dozen sets to bring this one together.

   The card base is of course Real Red with a layer of Whisper White and Real Red DSP from the Brights DSP pack.  We stamped the open hearts in Early Espresso on the Whisper White side.  Next the hearts trio was stamped in Real Red and punched out with the Heart to Heart punch and the punched hearts were adhered wherever the ladies wanted them. 

  We added a narrow strip of Real Red to bridge the transition from DSP to Whisper White.  "Be my Valentine" was stamped in Early Espresso and punched out with the Decorative Label punch.  And the really fun part of the card is the Red Glimmer paper heart that was punched with the Small Heart punch (the perfect size to go with this sentiment!).  And of course the sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.

  Get out your Real Red and your heart sets and get to work on some fun cards for the loved ones in your life.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Delightful Dozen

Ink: Real Red, Early Espresso

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Brights Collection DSP pack, Red Glimmer paper

Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Small Heart punch, Heart to Heart punch, dimensionals

Citrus Birdfeeders

  So if a lot of you are out checking blogs you're probably on Pinterest too (or know what it is).  For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is it's a really fun, crazy, sometimes overwhelming online corkboard.  You sign up, create your "boards" then start pinning away either from blogs, other online sites or from Pinterest itself.  It's an awesome site to organize and store all the ideas you see online.  I have boards for food, for the home, stamping ideas, things to do with the kids etc.  One of the things about Pinterest is there is so much to look at (you can see what everyone else pins, thus getting even more ideas!) that sometimes all you do is pin instead of make.  I've been trying to make an effort to make the recipes I pin, use some of the stamping ideas on my own cards and actually do some of the projects with my boys.

  This week Ryan, Alex and I made these Citrus Birdfeeders.  The boys like having grapefruit in the morning with breakfast and when I saw this "how to" on Pinterest I immediately pinned it so we could make them for our birds.  Here are our results!  The boys had a lot of fun pouring in the ingredients and mixing it up.

Hanging up on the shepherd's hook in the backyard

   I didn't really measure the ingredients but just eyeballed it based on the recipe in the above link.  We added some chopped raisins and craisins to our mixture. 

Our Ingredients

   I even used some stamping supplies!  I used Stampin' Up! hemp twine to make the hangers.  Just used a wooden skewer to poke the holes and then tied the twine through.

All mixed up!

  Our batch made more than enough for 2 halves of a grapefruit with a bit leftover for a refill for one.

Goobers!  And no I don't dress them alike on purpose!

  These things were pretty heavy so make sure you pick a sturdy branch or hook to hang them on.

Impossible to get a good photo in this house!

The finished product!

   After a few days when we still hadn't seen any birds eating from the Citrus birdfeeders I thought that maybe our little tiny birds were intimidated by the size of these things or they didn't like them on the hooks.  I took them down and wedged them into the crooks of 2 trees.  Like an hour later the birds were all over these so I guess it tasted good and they were just not digging where they were originally hung.

  Super easy fun project to do with the kids.  We will certainly be making these as often as we have grapefruit I'm sure.

  If you're interested in making some of the projects you've pinned and sharing with the world, my stamping friend Brandi hosts a monthly Pinterest challenge.  Get off the computer, make one of your pins, and share it at Brandi's site.  It's no use pinning ideas if you never make them!

  And in case you're wondering I have been stamping getting ready for my stamp club at the end of the month and for my February Creative Crew projects.  I promise I'll post a stamping project tomorrow!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Butterfly Birthday

 Happy Thursday everyone!  Where has the week gone?  I feel like it was just Monday.  No big plans here today...just the usual at home mom stuff...But I do have a cute card to show today.

  A few of my regular stamping ladies are co-workers and they bring their club projects into their office and show them off.  After seeing the club projects some of their other co-workers got interested in how to do stamping.  We've started doing a regular little class at their office making a few quick projects to introduce them to Stampin' Up! and papercrafting.

  Last night they made this sweet and simple birthday card.

  This is a long skinny card that fits into Stampin' Up's! long open ended envies.  We used a piece of the Sale-a-bration Everyday Enchantment DSP mounted right on the Whisper White base.  Then we stamped the sweet bench from Have a Seat in Soft Suede and mounted that on a piece of Pool Party.

  The sentiment from Bring on the Cake is stamped in Soft Suede and then hand trimmed into a banner.  The ladies got to play with the Beautiful Wings embosslit to make some butterflies to embellish the card.  The larger butterfly is popped up on a tiny piece of dimensional.  Each butterfly is accented with a small adhesive rhinestone.  I love how the die cut butterflies go with the little butterflies in the DSP...love matchy matchy!  Everything ties together!  We even adhered some butterflies to the inside of the card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Have a Seat, Bring on the Cake


Ink: Soft Suede


Paper: Whisper White, Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Everyday Enchantment DSP


Accessories: adhesive pearls, Beautiful Wings embosslit, dimensionals

It's Never to Early! Merry Stockings

  So I know some of you are going to be thinking, "This lady is crazy.  Christmas is just barely behind us.  What is she doing making Christmas cards now!??"  Well, let me tell you...last year I made 10 Christmas cards a month throughout the whole year and then when the holidays rolled around I was one step ahead.  All I had to do was try (really really hard) to get a decent photo of the boys and then address my cards.  No hemming and hawing over the design, no waiting for an order of supplies to arrive, no beating the deadline to get them mailed in time.  I had enough to send out to my family, friends, customers and to use for teacher gifts.  It was awesome! So this year I'm doing it again because I liked being all ready this past Christmas.  This card is my first installment for the Christmas Card Challenge 2012 over on Splitcoaststampers.

 

 I got the layout from the current challenge at Create with Connie and Mary which ends today.  I decided on these colors after seeing an advertisement over Christmas that used them and I thought it was neat combination so I wrote them down.  They are fun Christmas colors don't you think?  You could change the stocking to a heart and use it for Valentine's day too!

  This is a great layout for using up some scraps with your punches.  I got rid of a lot of Very Vanilla and Old Olive pieces with this one.  The base is Real Red with a layer of Very Vanilla that has the edge cut with the new Edgelits scallops and then embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

  I wrapped a length of Real Red stain ribbon around the Very Vanilla layer and then added a Blushing Bride Glimmer Brad. 

  I stamped the stocking from Snow Much Fun in Stazon and then punched it out with my 1 1/4" circle punch.  I colored the stockings with Old Olive, Real Red, Regal Rose and Blushing Bride and layered them with a 1 3/8" circle punched from Old Olive.  I alternated the colors of the stockings and adhered them to the base.

  And last but not least I stamped "make merry" from the retired set Berry Christmas in Stazon in the bottom right corner.

  10 down 90 to go!  Take some time throughout 2012 to make some of your Christmas cards so you can enjoy not being rushed in December.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Berry Christmas

Ink: Stazon, Markers: Old Olive, Real Red, Regal Rose, Blushing Bride

Paper: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Accessories: satin ribbon, glimmer brad, circle punches, Perfect Polka Dots e.f., Edgelits scallop die

Birthday Roar!

  Did everyone have a good weekend?  Get lots of stamping done?  I did a little bit, mostly to get ready for my upcoming classes.  The boys and Matt have off today so my usual quite Monday morning is not to be.  Maybe tonight I'll get into the stamp room after it quiets down.

  Today I'm sharing a birthday card for a little boy.  A friend of ours turned 5 so here is the card I came up with for him.  I saw this pillowcase in Pottery Barn kids and I thought, "Hey, that would kind of look cool as a card!"  We get inspiration from everywhere don't we?



  I wanted to use the Dinoroar set to do the same idea.  I love these little dinosaurs!

 I used Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade since I thought they were pretty close to the inspiration piece and perfect for a boy.  I stamped the T. Rex and the sentiment in Stazon so the outline wouldn't run when I colored it in with a blender pen and reinkers.  Then I stamped the Triceratops in Lucky Limeade all around the T. Rex.  You can't really see it in the photo but I used Crystal Effects just on the green stomach part of the T. Rex.

  I used the Crop-a-dile to punch a hold through the layers and set the jumbo eyelet (retired).  I wrapped some twine through the hole and tied a knot.  I frayed the edges a bit just because.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Dinoroar

Ink: Stazon, Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Accessories: Jumbo eyelet (retired), hemp twine, blender pen