Summer Gift Bag

I needed a gift bag for a prize at one of my recent events and I could not find anything that would really fit what I was giving away (one of the Mini Note Kits in the Under $10 section of the catalog). So I said to myself WWOSD? (What would other stampers do?) and my answer was, make something to fit around it! So I took the Mini Note Kit and put it on a piece of this beautiful retired Summer Picnic DSP and measured around it so that I could use one piece of paper and I scored around the edges so I basically wrapped the Mini Note Kit in the paper and left the top open, so you could take it out. I added two holes to the top and tied some Real Red 1/2" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon through the holes. For a little extra I added a flower from the pretties kit, and took the large Real Red button from the Playground designer buttons with some White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon through it for the center of the pretties button. Very simple and it was a huge hit!

If you haven't seen these Mini Note Kits, you need to look at them (sorry I don't have a picture, but I gave it away!) You can find them on page 208 of the current Idea Book & Catalog. They come with a couple of small stamps, note cards and a classic stampin' spot for ONLY $9.95! This is a perfect gift for anyone!!!

My Favorite Color Combo!

I LLLLOOOOOOOVVVVEEEEE Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink together! I never thought I would like the color brown!!

Stamps: Asian Artistry; Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink; Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip; Pretty in Pink; Certainly Celery
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Another version of this card I did cracked glass on the image which turned out very pretty, but I ran out of time when I was getting my convention swaps done! I just love the stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes, so many sayings all in one place!

Card Candy

Yes, this is another convention swap! The funny thing about this swap is that I thought it would be so easy to do, but I had a VERY hard time with it, but when it was done, it turned out to be my one of my favorite swaps!! For those who may not know what Card Candy is let me just tell you DO NOT EAT IT! It may sound yummy, but unless you enjoy the taste of cardstock or glitter, just don't even try! LOL Card Candy is great for adding a special something to a card you make or a scrapbook page! I thought these would go great on a Halloween page!

Stamps: Halloween Frights
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie; Rich Razzleberry; Basic Black; Whisper White
Ink: Pumpkin Pie; Basic Black; Rich Razzleberry; Soft Suede; Crushed Curry; Versamark; Black Staz On
Accessories: Basic Black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; pumpkin pie button; library clips; red chunky glitter; Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon; 1 3/8 Square Punch; 1 1/4 Square punch; scallop square punch; photo corners punch; curly label punch; 1 1/4 " circle punch; 1 3/8" circle punch; 1" circle punch; Tag and Small Tag punch; horizontal slot punch.
Technique: brayered sky (Yes, I did brayered sky on the 1 1/4 " circle behind the bat. It was actually very easy, I did the sky across a piece of Whisper White and then cut all the circles at once!)

Another Swap

I haven't created much since convention, but that's OK I still have plenty of swaps to show you! Anyone coming to my Christmas in September class will get to make this card.

Stamps: A Wish for Peace
Cardstock: Real Red, Glorious Green, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Versamark
Accessories: White Embossing Powder; Real Red Double-Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, distressing tool.

As soon as I saw this set I knew I had to use it for embossing! I envisioned using Night of Navy cardstock and silver embossing powder layered on Brushed Silver, but I just love this ribbon and I just don't think it would work with that color combo. :) Can anyone else believe we are almost to September? I am curious to know what happened to summer???? Please let me know if you find out! LOL

Convention Check In Day

Today we will get our convention bags that have our goodies inside and we get to go tour SU's facility in Riverton. It's going to be a good day!

Here is a card I did for general swapping.

Stamp set: Razzle Dazzle
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo; Pumpkin Pie, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and Watercolor paper.
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry.
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot ribbon
Technique: Used the baby wipe technique (fold a baby wipe to desired length, using reinkers drop ink on baby wipe in lines, stamp the image on the ink and then on your paper.)

Convention Swap

Guess what? It's that time again!! Today I am off to Salt Lake City for Stampin' Up!'s annual convention! I am going attempt to set some posts up to post while I'm away. Hopefully it works! This is a new stamp set swap I did.

Stamp Set: Teddy and Train
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery and Whisper White
Ink: Melon Mambo
Accessories: Melon Mambo polka dot ribbon; certainly celery button, linen thread, gold embossing powder.
Techniques: I embossed the teddy bear in white and then distressed the edges of the white and Melon Mambo cardstock.

Stay tuned for more!!

Beary Birthday!

Here is a card I came up with using Under the Stars! I just love this little bear and the best part is the little can says "skeeter spray" How cute is that? This is a great set for scrapbooking too!

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink; Close to Cocoa; Whisper White
Ink: Close to Cocoa; Pretty in Pink
Stamps: Under the Stars; It's Your Birthday
Accessories: Pretty in Pink Taffeta; Scallop Circle Punch 1 3/8 Circle Punch

Don't forget to check out the new Stampin' Up! Catalog! There are some gorgeous new Designer Series Paper and new In Colors and some great new stamp sets! Hopefully next week I'll have some stuff to show ya!!!

Chicago Layout

I'm looking back to try to determine what I haven't posted and I haven't posted many projects at all over the past few months!! The good news is life is good, just busy :) I wanted to share a layout with you since I do not normally get the opportunity to! This is a layout I created for a Scrapbook Challenge I volunteered to handle a couple months ago at a great new site I belong to called Stampin Addicts! I love these colors together! Last year DH and I took a weekend trip to Chicago for our anniversary, just the two of us and it was awesome! This is one of the layouts I created from that trip:

Stamps: Outline Alphabet
Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Corduroy buttons, linen thread, eyelet border punch.

This is a very simple layout. I usually use more pictures on a page, but for this one I just wanted to keep it simple!

Very Versatile!

This is a card I made using a set coming up in Stampin' Up!'s next mini catalog, which will be available for purchase April 1st! This set is called Very Versatile and it is! It has several different sentiments as well as an image and there are lots of things you can do with this! I designed this card for my next card class, simple and effective!


Stamp Set: Very Versatile
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Old Olive
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Accessories: Oval Scallop Punch, Button Latte, Linen Thread, Sponge.

I sponged around the base of the cardstock just a little and also sponged the main image and the oval image.

I am going to try something new, if I can remember ;) If I make a card or project that is Stampin' Up! Only ("SUO") meaning I use ONLY Stampin' Up! product, then I am going to put SUO in the label. That way if anyone is looking specifically for SUO, they will be able to find it easily. My cards are mostly SUO because I tend to demo them, unless they are special, my scrapbook pages are not because I use my Cricut!

Speaking of Cricut, I went to a biannual scrapbook retreat this weekend and had a blast. I took my Cricut and I think I used it on 90% of my pages and I did 38 pages. Not as many as last time, but I had more friends go with me this time so it was more socializing than before!

New Take on Old Card

I just love these colors together. I had a similar card to this that I used for a class last year and I really liked it. I decided to modify it a little bit to show off some new stuff!

Stampset: Polka Dot Punches, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White.
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Paper Crimper, Scallop Edge Punch, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Fleurettes, Clear Rhinestone Brads

3x3 Card

When we did our new catalog swap a 3x3 card swap was added in for the fun of it! These are somewhat out of my comfort zone, because they are so small! I find it very hard to fit what I want on them, usually, however, this one just came to me and I was very pleased with it.

Stampset: Wonderful Watercolor
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White.
Ink: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Clear Rhinestone Brads, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon; Distressing tool.

Very simple, but it would be a great little gift card or just a note to say hi!

A Swap Card!

This is a recent swap card I did with some of my online demo friends! The swap was after the new catalog was released and we all picked a new set. I decided to go with the Chalkboard technique.

Stampset: Wonderful Watercolor
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum and Very Vanilla.
Ink: White Craft; Stampin' Pastels
Accessories: Scallop Envelope Bigz Die, Ticket Corner Punch; Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon; Filigree Brads, dimensionals.

This technique is very easy. You just take a dark color cardstock and stamp your image using White Craft Ink. Then, using sponge daubers, use Stampin' Pastels and color your image. When done, lightly wipe the image using a swiffer cloth.

No accessories, is that possible?

Have you ever made a card with no accessories? Just cardstock and ink? I do not think I have and then a friend one of my online friends issued a challenge. Make a card using only cardstock and ink, no tools, no accessories nothing! I thought, no way can I do that. Then it all came to me, I needed a birthday card from my friend's son and I knew I wanted to use the pickup from Loads of Love. Here is what I came up with:

Cardstock: Kraft; Ink: Basic Black, Tango Tangerine; Old Olive; Chocolate Chip, Ballet Blue and Real Red. Stamps: Loads of Love, Wild About You, It's Your Birthday (?).


I tried to mask the truck so it looked like the giraffe and trees were behind it. And I may have cheated a little and used a sponge to sponge in some "sky" and "grass". But it needed a little something at the top. I was pretty pleased with this. Who knew it was possible to make a cute card without accessories!

Scrapbook in a Box

My wonderfully talented friend Amy at A New Song had the directions for these Scrapbook in a Box on her blog. I had always wanted to try this but always thought it was too complicated

I used Raspberry Tart DSP, the base of the box is Old Olive (it should be Kiwi Kiss, but I didn't have any 12x12 in Kiwi Kiss and Old Olive was the closest I had). The top of the box is Pretty in Pink and used some of the xtra strips of the DSP around the edges. I wasn't sure what do for the top and was looking through my Big Shot goodies and decided on the Scallop Envelope filled with the Sweetest Stem embosslits in Pretty in Pink and Cameo Coral. I stamped Everything from the Always stamp set in Ruby Red on the Scallop Envelope and added a small button. Inside I used some more Sweetest Stem embosslits and the Simple Flower with a Clear Rhinestone Brad. I can't wait to fill it up with pictures!

Goody Goody Gumdrops

The other day when I was making some cards my DD came up to my desk and asked me to make her a card. How could I turn her down, especially when she said "Please, Mommy?". Anyway, I went very simple and just played with one of my newer sets:






I used the Goody Goody Gumdrops stampset. Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Pixie Pink and Close to Cocoa. Ink: Pixie Pink, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Close to Cocoa and Yo Yo Yellow. Accessories: Square Scallop Punch and Red Gingham ribbon.

I asked her what she thought and she said "Oh, it is so cute mommy!"

Valentine

Yes, I realize Valentine's day is over, but I didn't get the opportunity to make any Valentine's until AFTER Valentine's Day!! I made this for my DH.

Stamps: Love you Much; Cardstock: Real Red, Pretty in Pink and whisper White; Accessories: Priceless Classy Brass Template, Real Red 5/8" grosgrain and Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain.

The picture doesn't really show it, but I dry embossed the heart from the Priceless Classy Brass Template and then paper pierced around it.

A Quilt Card

According to my friend Amy over at A New Song these cards are all the rage today! I've seen them around before, but I thought they looked to complicated to try, but as it turns out they are super easy! I used the new DSP, Tea Paper. I used Mono Multi to adhere all the squares to the white cardstock and let it dry before running it through the Big Shot.

The base of the card is Pretty in Pink and I tied Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon around the top. I stamped Birthday wishes in the corner using Perfect Plum, it doesn't show up very well, but I didn't want to cover up any of the top note with extra layers. I also added Filigree brad in the lower right hand corner. That's it. Very simple and very pretty. I was just playing around with this, I can't wait to do this again! I was thinking this would make a good Easter card. Just add a Happy Easter, what do you think? The colors are right!

Anyone else ready for spring? I love snow, I think it is so beautiful when it covers the trees and is all fluffy, but I hate driving in it, I hate when it takes an hour to get 10 minutes away!! Luckily we don't get a lot of snow here, but we did get over 10 inches yesterday. Oh well, it won't be long now, right?

Goody Goody Gumdrops

Don't look if you were in the SA Preview Swap, don't have your swaps and want to be surprised :)

This it the card I created for the SA preview swap I hosted, I hope they liked it!



Actually this isn't an exact replica, because I used Pixie Pink on all the cards but mine, I ran out for mine, but it works either way.

Cardstock: Real Red, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White; Chocolate Chip
Ink: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Versamark.
Accessories: Iridescent Ice, White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Crystal Effects.
Stamp set: Goody Goody Gumdrops.

I stamped all the cherries on the Whisper White, colored in some of them with Pretty in Pink markers. The others I stamped over in versamark and added iridescent ice. I added Crystal Effects to all the cherries I colored in. For the ice cream I stamped it in chocolate chip paper, colored the top in with versamarker and embossed it with white embossing powder.