Dazzling Snowflakes

This is the first card we made at my recent Stamp-A-Stack. I saw several similar color combinations on Splitcoast and I thought that it would look nice with Serene Snowflakes and some Dazzling Diamonds.

Parts of the snowflake are highlighted with Dazzling Diamonds. We used the 2 way glue pen and added the Dazzling Diamonds and then shook off the excess. The chocolate chip layer is dressed up along the edge with the scallop border punch. We used the small double rectangle punch just above the scallops and then pulled about 5 inches of organza ribbon through the 2 small holes and pulled the ends back to the front.

A great card for upcoming winter birthdays, Christmas or after Christmas thank yous. The photo doesn't show the sparkle well so you'll just have to trust me!

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes

Ink: Brocade Blue

Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Accessories: scallop border punch, double rectangle punch, Dazzling Diamonds, 2 way glue pen, Whisper White organza ribbon

Stamp-A-Stack Patterned Pines

This is the second card we made at my recent Stamp-A-Stack. We used the Patterned Pines hostess level 1 set from the Occasions Mini.

The pines were stamped in Always Artichoke. The sentiment was stamped in Bravo Burgundy. The stars on the top of the tree were done using the Champagne Mist shimmer paint applied directly to the stamp using a sponge dauber and then stamped onto the cardstock.

Now what makes this card really cool and it doesn't show on the photo is that it has a subtle all over sparkle. We used shimmer mist made using shimmer paint. Fill up a small travel sized spray bottle with rubbing alcohol, add 8-10 drops of shimmer paint and shake it up really well. Spritz your card 2-3 times for all over coverage. When the alcohol dries in a few minutes the card stock is sparkly! Make sure you shake up the shimmer mist really well before spraying as the shimmer paint settles pretty quickly.

This would be a super simple Christmas card to make in a large quantity as it gives a big WOW! and you don't need a ton of supplies.

***I apologize for the dim photo---my camera doesn't seem to be working correctly and it was cloudy day!

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Four the Holidays

Ink: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy

Cardstock: Kraft, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Champagne Shimmer Paint, sponge dauber, Shimmer Mist (see above for directions to make shimmer mist)

Spooky Expressions Decor Elements

A few weeks ago I hosted my Ladies Night Out group at my house. It's great to get together with this group of friends for some food, chitchat, games and sometimes a quick craft activity. As soon as I saw the Spooky Expressions in the Definitely Decorative catalog I knew what little craft I would be doing as I was hosting in October.

This is a super easy project. I bought some 8 inch standard sized clay pots and several sets of Spooky Expressions Decor Elements. You get 3 different faces on a sheet and they can be cut apart and used separately. Each of my friends choose the face they wanted and applied it to their pot. None of these ladies had used the Decor Elements before and after I showed a few of them how to do it they were teaching the others like they had been doing it for years! I had some fall mums for them to finish off their Spooky Expressions flower pots.

The Decor Elements can be used outdoors so there is no worry of any harm coming to these flower pots and they can be used for years to come. I've even heard of people applying the Decor Elements to their cars and they have stood up to harsh winter conditions.

Supplies: 8 inch standard clay pot, Spooky Expressions Decor Elements, applicator tool, fall mum

Jack-o-Lantern Domino Magnets

Do you have a pile of dominoes that have smudged Stazon images? Are they just sitting there mocking you but you can't bear to throw them out? I did....so I turned them into magnets to use as prizes for my sons preschool Halloween Carnival. Parents donate small favors and candy to be used as prizes for the different game booths that are set up. I had a bunch of dominoes that were stamped and they just didn't look good enough to use (not centered, smudged, too scratched) that I wanted to get off my stamping table to make room for all the other projects I have going on!

I cut 1 inch x 2 inch strips of Only Orange cardstock. I heat embossed the Jack-o-Lantern face from the Autumn Harvest set in black. Because my dominoes had a slightly rounded edge I clipped a tiny bit from each corner with my paper snips. I then sponged the edges of the cardstock with Only Orange ink. I adhered the cardstock to the domino using red sticky tape. The edge of the domino is wrapped in black grosgrain ribbon also adhered with red sticky tape. For the little stem I made a knot with some retired Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon and stuck that on the top with a glue dot. I bought a roll of adhesive magnetic tape and just put a small strip on the backside of the domino. DONE! I made 20 of these in no time at all.

So don't throw out those oops dominoes --find another use for them by covering them up with some stamped images on cardstock or a strip of designer paper and making them into magnets for stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, or for the kids to play with on the fridge (an alphabet set would be cool!)

Stamps: Autumn Harvest

Ink: Only Orange, Versamark

Paper: Only Orange

Accessories: domino game pieces, black embossing powder, heat gun, satin ribbon, grosgrain ribbon, sponge red sticky tape, adhesive magnet tape

October Stamp Club Project #1

For this card I was trying to highlight several new items that are in the Holiday Mini catalog. First, the Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper which is super cool because it is flocked! My husband even thought it was cool! Now that's saying something isn't it?? The second, the Frost White Shimmer Paint- which someone seems to come up with a new technique for every day. And lastly the Berry Christmas stamp set with the adorable little bird.

This card started with the Gatefold technique and I added the Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper to each front flap.

Now it doesn't show up well in the photo but the bird and the holly branch are shimmery! This was done using the Frost White Shimmer Paint and reinkers. Mix 2 drops of shimmer paint with 2-3 drops of reinker. For this card I used Real Red and Old Olive. Use a sponge dauber to pick up just a little bit of the shimmer paint mixture (a little goes a LONG way--I used the leftovers from making this sample to fill and entire sheet of Whisper White with images and I still had some left!). Now ink up your stamp being careful that you don't put the mixture on too heavy. Stamp the image on your cardstock. Voila!! A shimmery image. Definitely try this technique out, it really adds a lot to a card. For this card I stamped the branch first and then bird.

I added a small piece of white organza ribbon to make a tab and then used the ticket corner punch on the top panel. Adhere the bird panel to only one of the flaps so that it can be opened.

Stamps: Berry Christmas

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive (reinkers)

Paper: Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper, Whisper White, Old Olive

Accessories: paper scorer, ticket corner punch, Frost White shimmer paint, white organza ribbon, reinkers, sponge daubers

October Stamp Club Project #2

After seeing all the great projects using the Sweet Treats cups with the little sliding door to get at the goodies I decided to have my stamp club do this project.

First start with a 6x3 piece of Old Olive folded in half. Then stamp the Halloween stamp from the Sweet Centers set in Versamark on Whisper White. I used my pastels and and sponge daubers to do the poppin' pastels technique. The colors used here were Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Perfect Plum & Pink Passion (to mix together to get a close match for Rich Razzleberry). Using the 13/4" circle punch, punch out the center circle on the Whisper White card stock. Now take the image and line it up on the front of the Old Olive piece. Trace the circle with pencil, now use the 13/4" punch to punch out that circle.

Attach the image to the treat cup by placing a few glue dots on the top of the lip of the treat cup (don't remove the paper backing to the treat cup) and putting the image on top of the cup. Next put a glue dot in the very corners on the back of the image. Line the image with the cup attached up to the hole that is punched in the Old Olive piece.

Now to make the sliding door....take the EEEKKK Spider piece that was punched out earlier and adhere it to a 2" x 21/4" piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock. Punch a small oval in Old Olive and fold in half. Attach it to the edge of the Rich Razzleberry piece. Punch a small hole in the tab and run about 8 inches of Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain ribbon through it and tie in a knot. Slid this whole piece between the treat cup and the Old Olive base. You make have to slide it back and forth a few times but now you have a neat little trap door that you can refill many times and not have to rip apart the project to get to the candy!

Stamps: Sweet Centers, Smarty Pants

Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Versamark, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Sweet Treats cups, 13/4" circle punch, small oval punch, dotted grosgrain ribbon, pastels, sponge daubers

October Stamp Club Project #3

For this card I demonstrated how to mask as well as watercoloring with an aquapainter and ink pads.

First you want to decide which image you want in the forefront of your card and stamp that one first in black Stazon. Then make a mask by stamping your image on a sticky note and then cut it out. I stamped the large pumpkin and then masked it and stamped the small gourd, masked that and then did the smaller pumpkin so it was slightly hidden.

For the watercoloring you can either press the lid of your ink pad into the ink to create a little pool to use or you can use a reinker and drop a small amount (1-2 drops- a little goes a long way) on to the inside of the ink pad lid. Use an aquapainter to pick up the ink and then start at the outside of your image and work your way to the center. This give some depth to the image and keeps it from looking flat. Add more color to the edges as needed. I also highlighted the gourd lines with a little bit of Old Olive. A small amount of Sahara Sand was watercolored around the entire image to give a slight shadow again to keep the image from looking flat.

Stamps: Autumn Harvest, Holiday Best

Ink: Black Stazon, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Sahara Sand

Paper: Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry,

Accessories: aquapainter, reinkers, ticket corner punch

Sweet Pea Twins!

One of my stamp club members is expecting twins and is due the beginning of December if she doesn't go early. In lieu of swaps this month my club made a whole bunch of baby thank yous for the mommy to be. She is having a boy and a girl so it was fun to see how everyone made their cards to include both genders.

My card is totally CASED from Andrea Walford's blog. Her sister does a punch art tutorial every week and as soon as I saw this baby card I knew I had to make one like it for someone. It was super easy to add another pea pod to my card and make one a baby girl and the other a baby boy just by adding a little knot of pink and blue ribbon.

Check out the above link for instructions on how to make these adorable sweet peas. The tutorial is great with step by step instructions. Andrea and her sister make AWESOME cards and are total inspirations with so many great ideas.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Warmest Regards

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom

Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, large oval punch, white gel pen, ticket corner punch, black marker, blender pen & Regal Rose watercolor crayon (for cheeks), grosgrain ribbon, glue dots