Sweet Birthday

  I'm trying to get organized after the Christmas madness but it just doesn't seem to be happening…so I'm going to post this card that I made a while ago and just never found the time to post.  I made it for a little girls birthday and it was for some sketch challenge or other and now I can't even remember which one!

  The little birthday cake from Bring on the Cake is so cute on its own and a great image for a quick clean and simple card.

  I stamped the cake and cut it out with a Window framelit.  I colored it in and then added some Dazzling Details which are hard to see.  For a little girl who likes princesses I thought I should add some more bling with rhinestones.

  I used a scrap of Pretty in Pink DSP and a length of Rich Razzleberry stitched grosgrain ribbon.

  The button with a baker's twine bow is the final touch.

  I finally got back in the stamp room yesterday after almost 2 weeks and I hope to get some more new projects made to get back in a groove.

  Have a great (and safe) New Year's Eve tonight!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Early Espresso  Markers: Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink DSP

Accessories: Corner rounder, Windows Framelits, rhinestones, button, baker's twine, Rich Razzleberry stitched grosgrain ribbon, Dazzling Details

Merry Christmas to All!

  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and have loved ones close by to celebrate with!  I hope to be back blogging regularly at the end of the week after our families have headed home.

  Merry Christmas!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Petite Pairs

Ink: Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Naturals Ivory, Lucky Limeade, Festival of Prints DSP

Accessories: paper piercing pack, Ornament Framelits, dimensionals, oval punch, pearl, grosgrain ribbon (retired)

Shut the Front Door!

  Hopefully you have all of your cards finished and in the mail and don't need any more inspiration for this year but I thought I would share a card that I made 10 of last week.  You can always 'Pin It' for next year (and hope that you remember to look back at it!).  I needed some more cards to send out and saw a bunch of this style last year and thought it was so cute and now I finally got around to making one of my own.  This design comes together quickly (if you pay attention and cut the cardstock right the first time or even the second time---third time's a charm!).

 The base is Early Espresso and the panels of the door are made from the Core'dinations Early Espresso cardstock.  Once I embossed them with the Woodgrain embossing folder and sanded them a bit they really began to look like a weathered front door.

  The wreath is made by stamping the Blue Ribbon stamp in Gumball Green onto Gumball Green Core'dinations cardstock and using the matching punches to cut out first the center circle and then the scalloped circle.  The bow is 1/8" taffeta Real Red ribbon and is adhered to the wreath with a glue dot.

  The door knob is just a Gold Glimmer brad.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Blue Ribbon

Ink: Gumball Green

Paper: Early Espresso, Core'dinations Early Espresso & Gumball Green

Accessories: Woodgrain e.f., circle punch, scalloped circle punch, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Glimmer Brad, glue dots

DSP Scrap Christmas Tree

   I am so proud of myself.  I just mailed out 78 hand stamped Christmas cards!  Wow!  I need to make about 15 more to go along with gifts that will be hand delivered but man I am glad to have that item checked off my "to-do" list.  If I end of having some time I might send out a few more but for now the bulk mailing is complete!

   I whipped this one up the other night after seeing some advertisement on Splitcoaststampers that had a similar idea.  I'm sure there are lots of examples of this out there and it gave me a great feeling to use up some bits of scraps.

  I used the Fab Friday color challenge again since it's such a great combo for Christmas.  The colors used are Real Red, Primrose Pink, Gumball Green, Pool Party and Whisper White.  There's still time to make your card and play along with us.  This challenge is open until Dec. 20!

  It's hard to see but the white panel is embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder…goes with all the dots on the DSPs!

  See that awesome giant rhinestone at the top of the tree??  Well that's a sneak peek of a new items that will be in the upcoming Spring catalog.  Larger rhinestones!  Sweet!  It works perfectly as the star on top don't you think?

  I'd love to sit and go on and on about this card but I've got some icky bathrooms that need to be cleaned…I'm about ready to install urinals in my house!  Geez!  Stamping would be much more fun right?  But the duties of an at home mom are usually not very glamourous are they?  =)

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Pennant Parade

Ink: Gumball Green

Paper: Patio Party DSP, Summer Smooches DSP, In Color DSP pack, Pool Party, Gumball Green, Whisper White

Accessories: Perfect Polka Dot e.f., jewelry tag punch, baker's twine, Large Rhinestone (upcoming Spring catalog)

Sweater Trim Pom Pom Tag

 Here's another project that my ladies made at my Tags, Bags & Boxes class.  It's a super sweet snowman tag.  The fun part about this tag is the pom pom made from the awesome sweater trim!  I think some of my ladies didn't like the pom pom but with a little patience they come out adorable!  I need to make some more this weekend….I have some trim left that probably won't look very good on spring cards!

  We used a tag made from the 2 Tags die and Crumb Cake cardstock.  Then it was embossed with the Northern Flurry embossing folder.

  The snowman from Snow Much Fun was stamped, colored in and bit of Dazzling Details added to his edges that you can't see in the photo.  He is punched out and mounted on a Garden Green scalloped circle.

  The pom pom is really easy….along the same lines as a fork bow.  Just wrap the sweater trim around the tines of a serving fork about 15-20 times.  Then take another length of trim and thread it between the center tine at the top and the bottom so it goes around the trim you wound around the fork.   Tie it really tight in a knot and then slide the trim off of the fork.  You'll have loops on both sides of the knot, just use sharp scissors to cut the loops.  Then fluff and shape the pom pom.  You'll get some shedding (I thought it looked like something bad had happened to a muppet in my stamp room!) and you'll probably have some longer strands, just trim those down with scissors. Ta-da!!  A pom pom!

  So much to do, so little time!  Have a great day!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Black   Markers - Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Garden Green

Accessories: Northern Flurry e.f., Two Tags die, circle punch, scallop circle punch, Cherry Cobbler sweater trim

 

Snowflake Gift Bag

Here is one of the other projects my stamping ladies did at my last class in November.  It's a plain kraft gift bag that you can get at most craft stores and we jazzed it up.  They are super easy to decorate to fit any theme that you need.

  We stamped the bag with Illuminate ink and the Snowflake Soiree set.  The tissue paper was also stamped with Pool Party and Lucky Limeaid ink to match the flags.  The flags are attached with sticky strip at the very top.

  Love that shimmer from the Illuminate ink.  At some angles it disappears and then BAM! The snowflakes show up!

 The 2 snowflakes were cut with Silver Glimmer paper and the Snow Flurry die.  A red Glimmer brad holds them together and to the bag.  Just use a paper piercer to poke a hole through the bag and stick the brad through.  It's hard to see in this photo but the smaller snowflake was sponged with Pool Party ink and then heat set.  Glimmer Paper is already really cool just the way it comes but being able to change the color makes it even better!

  Here's a close up of the tissue paper and the tag.  The tag was cut with the Labels framelits, stamped with a Pool Party snowflake and then the sentiment is stamped in black right over the top of the snowflake.  It is attached to the bag handle with a bit of Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Soiree, More Merry Messages

Ink: Illuminate, Black, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade

Paper: In Color DSP stack, Silver Glimmer paper, Naturals White, tissue paper (non-SU)

Accessories: Snow Flurry die, Labels Framelits, Glimmer Brad, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, hole punch, kraft bag (non-SU)

Christmas Light String

  Where have the last 2 weeks gone?  I feel like it was just Thanksgiving and now we're well on our way to Christmas.  Are you decorated?  Shopping finished?  Cookies baked?  Probably not on that last one huh?  You don't want them to be stale before Christmas is here!  I've got some more decorating and some shopping to do but all the big stuff is finished….big tree inside and lights outside in the yard.  Now I just have to find a decent fake tree for our front entrance hall.  I had a tree that just wasn't cutting it anymore and after it did its duty last year we tossed it.  I might just get another real one (like we have in the family room but much smaller to my husbands relief) and wait until the after Christmas sales to get an artificial one.  What a Christmas dilemma huh?  Lol!

  Well since it's Friday we have another awesome challenge over at Fab Friday.  Mindy has given us some fantastic colors to work with!  Look at these beauties!  Primrose Petals, Real Red, Pool Party, Gumball Green and Whisper White.  I'm really excited to see what people come up with.  I think this combo would be great for Christmas and also for every day cards!

  I went with a Christmas card since I am still woefully short on cards to mail out.  I think I may make several more of this design since I like it so much.  My photo doesn't do it justice I don't think.  I just couldn't get a good photo to save my life.  Squint your eyes up a bit and use your imagination!  Maybe it was the white background or something….who knows.  Maybe I should ask for a photography class for Christmas.

  I had some of the retired long skinny envelopes sitting around and I wanted to get them used up to make some more room since I have a (large) box of Spring catalog pre-order and Sale-a-Bration goodies coming.  So long and narrow it is.

  When I received the ornament framelits at the end of the summer I immediately thought this short fat shape looked just like a Christmas light bulb and have been meaning to try it out ever since.  I cut the "bulbs" using a few of challenge colors using the framelits.   I sponged some silver Shimmer Paint on the base with a sponge dauber.  While my lightbulbs were drying I cut a Pool Party base and a layer of Primrose Petals and Whisper White.  The Whisper White layer was run through the Big Shot with the Northern Flurry embossing folder.

  Then it was time for stringing the lights….everyone's favorite Christmas activity right?  I used Pool Party baker's twine and wrapped a loop around the bulb base.  I put a glue dot on the back to hold the twine in place and then worked my way down the line alternating colors.  I stamped the sentiment from Sweet Essentials in black and then adhered my lights across the Whisper White panel.  I tucked the ends of the twine behind and then adhered all the layers to the card base.

  Not a lot of stamping but I like it.  Hop over the the Fab Friday blog to see the other design team creations and then play along.  I'd love to see what you create with these colors!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Essentials

Ink: black

Paper: Primrose Petals, Real Red, Pool Party, Gumball Green, Whisper White

Accessories: Northern Flurry e.f., Silver Shimmer paint, baker's twine, Holiday Ornaments framelitsFab Friday

Holly Christmas Gift Tag

Here's a cute tag that my stamping ladies made at last week's class.

  We started with a Crumb Cake tag cut from the Two Tags die.  The holly branch from Watercolor Winter was stamped in Garden Green and then the berries filled in with the Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details.  The Very Vanilla flag was also stamped in Garden Green with the "Merry Christmas" from More Merry Messages.

  The bow was tied with Cherry Cobbler tulle ribbon and accented with an Antique Brad.  Instead of trying to shove the brad through the tulle we just folded over the prongs and used a hot glue gun to adhere the brad to the bow.  Super easy!  Just make sure you get your bow just right before gluing the brad!

  I usually don't get my act together enough to make hand stamped gift tags but this one was so easy I might try to make enough for at least the teacher gifts this year.   They all work so hard that they certainly deserve some special packaging for their gifts.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Watercolor Winter, More Merry Messages

Ink: Garden Green

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler tulle ribbon, Antique Brad, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, glue gun, Two Tags die

New Demo Congrats

  Where are the days going??  I just realized that I haven't posted a project since last Tuesday!  Yikes!  I have things to show you but it's just a matter of taking the photos and getting them ready to post.  Hopefully I can find time to do all that this week….among about 20 other things on my "to-do" list!

  I made this card to send to a new demo who recently joined my team.  Jen is an old stamping buddy from Richmond who moved to Boston and couldn't resist the great deal of the Starter Kit and the free ink pad set (only good until Dec. 16), not to mention the discount!  If you're looking for a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in the Boston area just let me know and I'll get you hooked up with Jen!

  I used the current Fab Friday sketch because that large center panel just has so many possibilities.  I haven't used the Moving Forward set too much since I got it but I think it has great images.  I got a little fussy with this one and used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the trike just right.  First, I colored the trike with Calypso Coral and Basic Black markers.  I omitted the basket and the spokes on the wheels.  Then I went back and colored the basket and spokes with my (retired) Versamarker.  I lined everything back up with the Stamp-a-ma-jig and then heat embossed with silver embossing powder.  It looks neat in real life since the metallic parts of the bike are raised and shiny.

  I added some punched flowers and silver brads to complete the scene.  The banner was handcut and underneath the 1/8" black taffeta bow is a bitty button that's hard to see.  The little strip of DSP is a section that I cut from one of the Patio Party DSP patterns.

  I've got to go start checking things off my list on this busy Monday morning!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Moving Forward, Pennant Parade

Ink: Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Versamarker

Paper: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Basic Black, Summer Starfruit, Patio Party DSP

Accessories: corner rounder, rhinestones, Itty Bitty punch pack, silver e.p., Bitty Button, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, silver brads