January Stamping Projects

My group of stamping ladies got together earlier this past week to make card organizers to get us organized for the start of 2010. We all had a blast and I think everyone enjoyed learning how to make these simple pocketed books and the cards that went along with it.

Thanks to my father in law we were able to bind our books right away and not have to take them to an office supply store for that part. He recently closed down his business and I was the proud inheritor (is that a word??) of some really cool office equipment and other supplies. Among my treasure was a binding machine! Very cool!! I did get a lot of binding spines from my FIL but there weren't any 1 inch white spines in the stash so I just ordered a box of those from a local paper supply company. Now I can make about 90 more card organizers if I want to!


We used the Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Pack found in the Occasions Mini to make our pocketed pages. The ladies had a great time picking out the papers and even had a hard time choosing because all the designs are so pretty in this pack. We embellished the front covers with the coordinating Sweet Pea Stitched Felt pieces. This really made the cover pop and added a lot of interest.


For the 2 cards we made to go along with our organizers we used some new goodies from the Occasions Mini & the Sale-A-Bration as well as my new Big Shot. The first one I choose to do a masculine birthday card as that seems to always be the hardest kind of card for me to make. I can do girlie and little kid with the best of them but guys cards can be hard.

We ran a quarter sheet of Very Vanilla through the Big Shot using the Top Note Die. Then the stack of gifts from the Happy Moments Sale-A-Bration set (FREE!) was stamped with Stazon and water colored with an aquapainter. The "happy birthday" sentiment is only inked once and then stamped 3 times to get the fading color. 2 brads dress up the edges of the Top Note. A few drops of Crystal Effects on the Polka Dot gift finishes this card off. Sweet & Simple for that birthday guy!




Stamps: Happy Moments

Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla

Ink: Stazon, Not Quite Navy, Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango

Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note die, brads, Crystal Effects, aquapainter


Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner we had to make a card with the new I {Heart} Hearts set in the Occasions Mini. We also used the new Scallop Trim Border punch (FREE during Sale-A-Bration) along the bottom edge.
The sentiment from Well Scripted (Occasions Mini) was stamped in Close to Cocoa on textured Pretty in Pink cardstock and then punched out with the heart punch and popped up on dimensionals.
A Valentine wouldn't be complete with out some Rose Red ribbon.

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Well Scripted

Cardstock: Kraft, Pretty in Pink (textured), Whisper White

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Rose Red

Accessories: Rose Red grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Sweet Cupcake Tags

Last fall I did a craft fair at my son's preschool. It was a bust as far as sales and contacts go but I had fun chatting with the other vendors I was sitting near. One of the ladies I was sitting next to had her own custom cupcake business. She saw a card that I had for sale using the cupcake in the Party Heart set. She asked me to make her a set of tags using the cupcake and the the colors she uses in her business brochures. She wanted to use them on her packaging for her holiday treats.

I colored the cupcake using the Chocolate Chip & Pink Passion markers and then stamped on Whisper White. I used the 11/4" circle punch to punch out the cupcake layer. Then I stamped the frosting again in Pink Passion and cut it out using my paper snips. I added some dazzling diamonds to the frosting and then popped it up on dimensionals. I layered the cupcake on a 13/8" Tempting Turquoise circle and then on top of a Chocolate Chip scalloped circle. A little bit of green embroidery floss and we have a cupcake tag!

Stamps: Party Hearty

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion

Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: 11/4", 13/8" circle punches, scalloped circle punch, dimensionals, markers, dazzling diamonds

12 Pocket Card Organizer Class - January 26

For my January class I will be teaching how to make this 12 pocket card organizer(colors will be different for the class). Each month has a pocket and a perpetual calendar to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries and other special dates. You won't misplace that special card or forget a birthday once you have this organizer!

For the class we will be making it using the new Sweet Pea Designer Series paper in the new Occasions Mini (pg.33) as well as making 2 cards to go along with the organizer(also using new products!). The cover was designed using My Digital Studio and I will adjust it to match the colors in the Sweet Pea DSP for the class.

I am waiting (very impatiently) for my big box of new goodies from Sale-A-Bration & the mini to arrive so I can play!

The cost of this class will be $15 or FREE with a $50 merchandise order (before tax & shipping). Please contact me if you're interested in attending.

Stamps: None

Ink: None

Paper: Tea Party Designer Series Paper

Accessories: My Digital Studio, binding comb & machine

Merry Christmas---A Little Late!

So I know Christmas is long gone and everyone is looking forward to Valentine's Day & Easter but I just had to put up a quick post of my Christmas card from 2009. I had decided to use Loads of Love way back in July. I just love that cute little truck and had break it out for a Christmas card. I ended up making 100 of these cards so I wanted it to be something fairly easy with few layers.

I stamped the truck in Stazon on watercolor paper then masked the truck and stamped the presents in the back. I colored the presents in with markers and used a reinker and aquapainter for the truck. Then I sat on the couch watching TV (for several nights!) and cut out what seemed like an endless number of little purple trucks! Thanks goodness for my trusty paper snips!

The trees were stamped in Old Olive several times without reinking to get the faded background look. That was done several times to get the forest. Then the trees were spritzed with shimmer mist made from Shimmer Paint and rubbing alcohol.

The trees were layered on a Rich Razzleberry panel. The truck was adhered in front of the trees and popped up on dimensionals.

Stamps: Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories

Ink: Stazon, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry (reinker)

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, watercolor paper

Accessories: aquapainter, markers, paper snips, dimensionals, Shimmer Paint

Glass Ball Snowflake Ornament

This is the third project we did at my December stamp club. This one is also easier than it looks. I used this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. Those ladies over there are amazing and I'm so grateful that they share all of these wonderful projects. I changed this slightly so that the snowflake is embossed instead of stamped with Stazon. I wanted to go for the light & airy sparkly look!

To emboss on the acetate circle be sure to use your embossing buddy as the static on the acetate really attracts the embossing powder. You can wipe off any residue after the image is embossed. The acetate heats up much faster than card stock so it only takes a moment for the image to be set--you don't want to over heat the acetate so be sure to pay close attention for this step.

Put a little bit of fake snow in the bottom of your glass ball. You don't want to fill it up too much as it will prevent the snowflake from "floating". If you get too much snow you can shake some out or use a pair of tweezers to pull some out. Ask me how I know! =)

Punch a small hole in the top of your acetate circle and run some silver cord through it. This will give you a handle to hold onto as you insert your snowflake into the ornament. Put a glue dot on the outside neck of the ornament. Gently roll your snowflake into a tube and slide it into the ornament. Make sure you hold onto your cording! If it slips out into the glass ball not to worry! You can use your trusty tweezers to reach down inside and pull the cording back out. (Again ask me how I know!) Affix the cord to the glue dot when you have decided on the right length to let your snowflake dangle.

Put the metal cap back on, trim the silver cord so you can't see it and attach some Whisper White grosgrain ribbon for a hanger!

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes

Paper: Acetate sheets

Ink: Versamark

Accessories: clear glass ornament ball, silver embossing powder, embossing buddy, silver cording, handheld circle punch, fake snow, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, glue dots

Tag Punch Star Ornament

Here is the second project we did at my December stamp club. I think when I showed this project to the ladies they all thought it was going to be super complicated and take forever! I hope they were pleasantly surprised by how easy it actually was.

I followed the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers here. This tutorial has great step by step instructions and photos. This star can also be attached to a card front as well.

To attach the 2 star layers together we used the Build-A-Brad kit and some of the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper. This red and white paper is flocked! Punch out a small circle of the specialty paper and adhere it to the brad base. Then take one of the clear bubble tops and put that right on the specialty paper. The bubble has adhesive already on the back so it sticks right to the base. This is the first time I've used the Build-A-Brad and I can see myself using it a lot more to make custom brads to embellish many more projects.

To hang the ornament cut a length of Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon and push the 2 ends over the brad prongs before laying the prongs flat.

Stamps: None

Paper: Old Olive, Real Red, Vellum, Christmas Cocoa Specialty

Ink: None

Accessories: small & large tag punches, 2 way glue pen, Build-A-Brad, taffeta ribbon

3D Ornament Punch Card

I've been slacking lately getting my stamp club projects posted online. I guess I can blame getting ready for Christmas on my lack of time! This is a super fast card to make and I told my stamp club ladies not to be surprised if they see a variation of this card next year for my Christmas card! There are a bunch of examples of this 3D ornament made from the ornament punch up on Splitcoaststampers. I don't know who originally shared this fantastic idea but thank you! This is also a great card because even though it has the 3d element to it, the ornament folds down flat so it will mail.

To make this card first punch out 5 ornament shapes and fold them in half. Designer Series paper works great for this not only because of the great patterns and colors but it is lighter weight than the regular card stock so it will fold easier. For this project we used the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper that is available in the Holiday Mini (*Note: this paper is only available for a little but longer- after January 4 it's gone). Then adhere the folded ornaments to each other, back to back with a small line of SNAIL adhesive. Leave one side of the first & last ornaments loose, these will be the ends that you attach to the card front.

Stamps: Berry Christmas (sentiment)

Paper: Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper

Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories: Ornament Punch, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, organza ribbon

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