Happiness Happens

Well here we are at the end of the first month of 2012 and so far, I've stuck to my resolution of creating something each day! Let's hope it continues for the remaining 335 days of 2012!

For today's card, I took a Christmas stamp set and put a bit of a spin on it. This circle images are from Delightful Decorations and when they're stamped, they're actually ornaments designed to fit in the ornament punch. I punched them with the 1-1/4" circle punch instead so I just got the flower/snowflake image and a solid circle background. I layered each one on a 1-3/8" circle in the same color.

Aren't these colors great? Wisteria Wonder and Island Indigo are two of SU!'s current In Colors, which are only available for two years at a time. Fortunately, we still have a year and a half left on these babies, so I can get a lot more use out of them!

Supply List

Stamps: Delightful Decorations (page 40 of IBC), Heard from the Heart (page 167 of IBC)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: 1-1/4" circle punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, Rich Razzleberry 5/8" grosgrain ribbon

Heart Garland

I can see that making these could get very addictive, very quickly! I was looking for a quick and easy craft to do with my middle school students at an event on Friday night when a good friend of mine posted these on Pinterest. (Thanks, Kitara!) With Valentine's right around the corner, what a fun and easy way to decorate, not to mention use up some scrap paper you may have laying around. This is some old, old, old DSP I have left over from a few catalogs ago (I can't even remember it's name! I think it's Raspberry something!) I used a total of 12 strips for this little chain. Half of them were 8" long and 1" wide and the other half were 6" long and 1" wide.

To make this, I folded all of the strips in half, then I nestled an 8" strip inside of a 6" strip with the folds lining up. I also put a loop of ribbon inside the center of the 8" strip, then I stapled through the fold and all the layers of paper and ribbon. Then I folded the loose ends down to make a heart shape, and put the ends together inside the fold of another 8"/6" bundle. Staple through all the strips and keep repeating all the way down. In all, I used 7 staples to hold this together and it's very secure. The hearts are nice and tight too, so I'm not sure I'd go much longer than an 8" strip. It might work with cardstock since it's a little sturdier.

Supply List

Paper: DSP of your choice

Accessories: Ribbon, stapler

Ribbon Hearts

Another Pinterest idea I saw today. I started off with 1-1/2" squares of Melon Mambo. On the back of one, I drew a simple heart. (If drawing freehand terrifies you, punch a heart to trace or print one off the computer.) Then I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes around my heart, keeping them as spaced out as possible. (You could measure if you'd like but when it comes to this kind of stuff, I typically just eyeball.) I punched through all three pieces at once so the hearts would be the same size. I used 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and basically just back stitched in the hearts. Didn't take very long, but the result is pretty and is very Valentine-y, especially if you don't have a lot of heart stamps, like me!

Supply List

Stamps: Well Scripted (retired)

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Melon Mambo

Ink: Melon Mambo

Accessories: 1/4" Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, Crop-A-Dile

Petals

Today's cards were inspired by an idea I saw while browsing Pinterest this morning. Someone had taken a large canvas, painted it a solid color, then cut out oval shapes from scraps of fabric and glued them to the canvas. I immediately thought of the Blossoms Builder Punch and that the petal shape would be perfect for this. I also decided to use some more of the gorgeous Everyday Enchantment paper from the Sale-A-Bration mini because it has kind of a fabric quilt look to it so I thought it would be a neat effect.

My first card is the one laying down. I spread the petals out more to give it a more free-flowing effect like the original I saw. I'm not sure how much I like the end result though, so on my second one, I arranged the petals a lot tighter around the center and I think I like the overall look much better. I'm debating whether or not to add a sentiment to it, but that's definitely something that could be added later when I go to use the card. It would only take a minute or two to add a Happy Birthday or a Thank You.

Supply List

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede

Paper: Everyday Enchantment DSP (Sale-A-Bration mini catalog)

Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, Blossoms Builder Punch

Watercolor Wash

A little experimenting tonight. I stamped the Medallion with VersaMark ink, then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I love heat embossing and watching the powder melt! After it cooled, I sprayed the entire piece with water, then began brushing watercolor crayons over it. I used a wet brush to help spread them around. I used Perfect Plum in the center, then Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, and Certainly Celery. After it dried, I felt like it was a little too light around the edges, so I took my Certainly Celery Stampin' Spot (a mini ink pad - about 1" square) and rubbed it across the entire image, and especially along the edges. I like the distressed look this gave it. Then I took a wet tissue and wiped any excess ink off the embossed image to make it bright white again. It honestly sounds much more complicated than it was. I think this would probably work better with some bolder colors - probably the Brights or Regals collections would be better suited than the Subtles.

Supply List

Stamps: Medallion (page 149 of IBC)

Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum, Whisper White

Ink: Certainly Celery, VersaMark

Accessories: Heat gun, White Stampin' Emboss powder, Subtles Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Elegant Wedding

I love the Always Elegant stamp set, but I always struggle to find something to do with it. So I'm pretty pleased with how this card came out. I started off making a 4" square frame out of black cardstock using a punch that I've had for so long I don't even remember what it was called. This frame was actually something that my upline taught at the very first Stampin' Up! workshop I hosted almost 5 years ago, in February 2007. Any decorative corner punch would work though - you just punch the four corners, then cut a straight line from each punch to create the opening. At my workshop, we used small metal framed tags to make the frame, so we cut the line with scissors. Tonight, I just lined up the punches on my paper cutter and ran the blade from one to the other.

Obviously this is intended to be a wedding card, but the sentiment could easily be swapped out for a birthday, anniversary, Valentine's or even as a Christmas card (imagine a green frame instead of the black.)

Supply List

Stamps: Always Elegant (page 80 of IBC), Word Play (page 156 of IBC)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red

Ink: Real Red

Accessories: Decorative corner punch, Curly Label punch, 5/8" Real Red grosgrain ribbon

Just 11 months till Christmas!

Yep, I know it's January. Truth is though, I just love love love making Christmas cards. When I get my new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog each year, I can't wait to see what new Christmas stamps there are. I salivate over the Holiday mini catalog, imagining what I could do if I had just one of everything.

Typically, I start my Christmas cards in July. It's not unusual to find me spending an afternoon listening to Christmas carols and making cards. With this blog though, I've decided to get an even earlier start and so, on the 25th of each month, I will craft something Christmas! This gives me the chance to experiment and decide which designs I want to use for my Christmas cards (I usually have 5 to 6 designs each year) plus plan out some cards for Christmas card stamp-a-stacks in the fall. Maybe then I won't overplan and cause my poor friends to be here until almost 10 at night and still not finish their cards completely!

For this card, I stuck with just Real Red and Whisper White. The stamp, Christmas Postcard, is an a la carte stamp that costs under $10. The paper is leftover from this past holiday mini and the stripes and polka dots are actually red glitter. And that's not ribbon separating the stripes from the dots - it's actually a scrap piece of cardstock. If you ever wind up with a very narrow strip, don't toss it. It could be a great substitute for ribbon if you don't have the color you need!

Supply List

Stamps: Christmas Postcard (page 19 of IBC)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red

Ink: Real Red

Paper: Holly Berry Bouquet DSP (retired)

Bloomin'

Isn't this a pretty stamp set? This is Build a Blossom and all the stamps in the set coordinate with the Blossom Petals Builder punch. I really need to use it more often. I really like the way these petals look with a touch of sponging around the edges too. A simple, quick card that looks like you spent hours on it!

Supply List

Stamps: Build a Blossom (page 112 of the IBC)

Cardstock: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Real Red, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Blossom Petals Punch, sponges, Crumb Cake corduroy button (retired)

PS: Stampin' Up!'s annual Sale-A-Bration kicked off today! To see the great products you can get for FREE, simply click on the Sale-A-Bration catalog over there in the sidebar on the right!

Sweetheart Treat Bag

We're only three weeks away from Valentine's Day! Every time holidays like this pop up, I realize how sorely I am lacking in stamps with appropriate sentiments. Guess it's time I work on building some sentiment stamps up in my collection, huh?

This little treat bag is an easy way to dress up some conversation hearts. I used a 4"x4-1/2" square of Soft Suede and punched the ends using a decorative border punch. Then I folded it in half and attached it to the top of the bag with some brads. I threaded some of the Calypso Coral ribbon from the Everyday Enchantment Sale-A-Bration Ribbon & Brads pack (Sale-A-Bration starts TOMORROW!!!) and tied it in a bow. I used the coordinating paper and punched out four hearts using my large heart punch. I folded them in half and adhered them to one another to make the pop-up heart. Lastly, I made a little flag using the Amour stamp from Artistic Etchings. I may end up sending some of these off to daycare or maybe make some for my stamp club members and February hostesses!

Supply List

Stamps: Artistic Etching (page 129 of the IBC)

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Calypso Coral

Paper: Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB 2012)

Accessories: Scallop trim border punch, full heart punch, Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad pack, brads, cello bags, CANDY! :-)

Time to get Angry!!

Angry Birds, that is! I made this picture for my son to hang in his room. He's only three, but he loves playing Angry Birds on my phone, my husband's phone, my mother-in-law's phone...you get my drift. I've seen lots of examples of Stampin' Up! demonstrators making these guys, so I had to try one myself.

This is a 4x6 frame, so I started with a 4x6 piece of Pacific Point cardstock. I tore a 6" long strip of Old Olive to lay across the bottom for grass. The bird is made using the 1-3/8" circle punch. I punched a full circle in Real Red and in Whisper White. I repunched the white piece to create the belly. The eyes are made with the circle from the Itty Bitty punch set. The top and tail feathers are made with a mini five petal flower punch. I actually found it at Michael's with the American Girl stuff but it's an EK Success punch identical in style to the ones Stampin' Up! carries. I free-hand cut the eyebrows and used the pennent punch to creat the triangles for the beak. (Just slide the cardstock into the punch a liiiiiiiiiiitle bit!) The pig is another 1-3/8" circle in Old Olive, a 1/2" circle in Pear Pizzaz, two more itty bitty circles for the eyes, and more petals from the min flower punch for the ears. Finally, I punched out a bunch of pieces with my Word Window punch to create the tower of boards for the pig to sit on. Honestly, I think typing this description took me almost as long to create the whole picture - it's a pretty fast punch art design. And best of all, my son was absolutely delighted with it when he woke up from his nap and he already has it hanging in his room!

Supply List
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Pear Pizzaz, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Basic Black marker (pupils, pig nostrils)
Accessories: 4x6 picture frame, 1-3/8" circle punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, 1/2" circle punch, mini flower punch, Word Window punch, Pennent Punch

More punch fun

I totally cannot take credit for this design. Whenever new punches come out, the talented Stampin' Up! demonstrators find tons of uses for them outside of their intended design and use. After our ornament punch was released a few years ago, the idea of turning the ornament into a fish started popping up on other demo's blogs. I've been wanting to try it for awhile, and once again, my crafting blog was the perfect excuse to get off my lazy butt and make it!

There are lots of other punches at work here too. The ornament is the basic body shape. I punched several of them, one for the base, then I used the scallop circle punch on the others to make pieces to use as scales. I used the five petal flower punch to make the tail and the fins and the modern label punch to make the top fin. I used the owl punch to make the eyes and the hearts.

Supply List

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes (page 109 of IBC), Well Scripted (retired)

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White, Regal Rose

Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie (sponged on fish)

Accessories: Ornament punch, scallop circle punch, five petal flower punch, modern label punch, owl punch, sponges

Punchy Penguin

Decided to play with my punches tonight. I made the penguin using the owl punch - just cut off the little pointy ears. The balloons are all 3/4" circles and I used the penguins feet to make the little knots at the bottom.

The colors for this came from the Just Cake DSP. I used Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, and Wild Wasabi along with Basic Black and Whisper White for the penguin.

Supply List

Stamps: Pennant Parade (hello sentiment)

Ink: Basic Black

Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Owl punch, hemp twine, white gel pen

Pillow Talk

I'm not really much of a sewing kind of gal. I like fabric arts and even took a fabrics and textiles class in college, but my knowledge of sewing and using a sewing machine is pretty much limited to what I learned in 7th grade home ec. Still, I've had this Snoopy fabric for almost a year now, planning to make a pillowcase for this small pillow that Kenny has. My crafting 365 plan was pretty much the kick in the tail to get this going.

I know pretty much no sewing terms. This is all done with straight stitches, except for the ribbon which I added with a rather crooked zigzag stitch. The pillowcase is basically a big fabric envelope, just like the case that came with the pillow. (My mom actually got the pillow for me when I was pregnant with Kenny so I could sleep with it between my knees.) I'm trying to decide what to do to keep the flap closed. I was thinking about a big red button, but since Kenny wants to sleep with it, I might use Velcro instead so he's not slamming his head into a button!

Hit by the MDS bug!

Teach me a new trick and I'm done for! I promise I'll get back to some really hands on crafting t his weekend, but I'm loving these fast projects I can create in MDS. (And I swear, I'm not trying to just pitch MDS!)

After discovering how easy the brayered background was to create, I decided to do a more spring like card, since that's really what our weather's been like lately anyway! The background is actually two colors - Calypso Coral with an overlay of Daffodil Delight to get that sunset look.

Isn't the sentiment great? That is from Heard from the Heart which is one of my most favorite sets ever. I have it in regular stamp AND digital format, that's how much I like it. It's been used on my Christmas cards ever since it first came out!

I am definitely getting a set of these printed out. What a beautiful card to keep on hand for a multitude of occasions. I might add a few of SU!'s basic pearls as flower buds to the branches for a pretty effect.

Supply List

My Digital Studio

Colors: Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black

MDS Snow Card

Believe it or not, I fully intended to not use MDS for tonight's card, but then I got my February issue of Stampin' Success (an SU! publication for demos) and inside was a gorgeous MDS card with a "brayered" background. It was more of a spring time card with yellows and oranges, but I decided I just had to try one with blues for a cold, wintry feel. I struggled with making the background for a bit, then decided to check out www.mydigitalstudio.net to see if there were any tips and lo and behold, the very first tutorial video was how to make a brayered background!

This will be a 6"x6" card when I get it printed. I really like the way this came out and I'm actually tempted to try and recreate it tomorrow in paper. The only thing I wouldn't be able to do is create the different sized snowflakes. I do have the snowflake punch, but in real life, you can't change the size of the punched images like you can on MDS. Yet another MDS perk!

Supply List

My Digital Studio

Colors: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Basic Black

Fresh MDS

One of the first things I learned about scrapbooking is to create your page as soon as possible after the event while things are fresh in your mind. So here are some pictures I took of Kenny last night while we were visiting a family friend and he helped her daughter and niece bake cupcakes. I actually have a stamp set in MDS that has a little cupcake in it, so I was excited to use that as a page element in the lower right corner.

Whenever I make a scrapbook page, I try to pull my color cues from the photos I'm using. The background of Brilliant Blue was inspired by Kenny's shirt color. I used More Mustard as an accent to pull in the colors of the kitchen chairs, cupboards, and the cupcake itself.

Supply List

My Digital Studio

Time for some MDS

If you're interested in trying digital papercrafting, Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio program is for you. The number one rule of MDS is to not be afraid of it! You know why? Because there's an Undo button! If I accidentally cut a piece of cardstock the wrong size, or crop my photo too small while traditionally crafting, I'm wasting supplies. If I do that in MDS, I get to just click the undo button and try again. Plus, there's no little scraps of paper everywhere and no supplies to put away before little hands get a hold of them!

Best of all, once you get used to the program, you can design things very quickly. From start to finish, this layout took me about a half an hour. If I was working traditionally, it would have taken me a lot longer. Plus I'd never dream of putting scotch tape on my photos, but I've got no problem adding some digital tape! I will definitely be doing more MDS projects throughout this year, because even though I've had the program for well over two years, there's still lots of tricks I need to learn. Who knows, maybe I'll even get some things accomplished in Kenny's scrapbook. He's 3 and his scrapbook only has about six pages in it. Horrors!

I love making digital photos look like Polaroids. Remember how magical it was to stand and watch the photo develop? This is easy to do - just add a Whisper White cardstock layer behind your photo and make it a bit bigger on the bottom. Gives you a fun place to add journaling too.

Supply List

My Digital Studio

Colors: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Daffodil Delight

A little experimenting

I love stamping on tiles. It's one of my favorite techniques. I stumbled across these gray slate tiles at Lowe's yesterday and decided I needed to give them a try. Typically, I only stamp on lighter tiles.

My original plan of attack was the Poppin' Pastels technique. Basically, you stamp an image using Whisper White craft ink, then tap pastel on top of it using a sponge dauber. The pastel only sticks to the ink, leaving the design visible. Unfortunately, both times I stamped the flower, I didn't get a heavy enough image. After popping, it looked kind of like a Impressionist painting and I wanted a bit more detail. I decided to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the flower and re-stamp using Stazon. The problem is because it's a tile, not paper, there was no give underneath and the middle of the flower wasn't getting transferred.

So for the third tile in the middle, I decided to just go in straight black Stazon. I took the stamp off the clear block and put it on the tile, using my fingers to apply pressure to each area. I still had to stamp it four or five times before I got every section dark and clear. I thought about going back and adding some pastel for highlights, but I decided I liked the monochromatic better.

Supply List

Stamps: Because I Care (retired hostess set)

Ink: Whisper White craft, black Stazon

Accessories: Tiles, Stampin' Pastels, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers

In the nick of time

Whew! I was afraid I wasn't going to get this one done in time! Actually, I was more afraid I was going to have to change my blog to Pacific time to make this post show up for Friday! Glad I didn't have to cheat.

I've been on a weaving kick this week because it's what my 6th grade students have been working with in class. So I decided to mix weaving with some paper pleated flowers, or "lollies," as they're commonly referred to by SU! demos. The lollies are very simple to make - just take a strip of paper and score every 1/4". This is a lot easier to do if you have a scoring board. The big lolly is made out of a 1-1/2" wide strip and the small lolly is a 1" wide strip. Hot glue makes assembly much easier.

The raffia weaving is adhered to a smaller piece of Soft Suede cardstock instead of trying to attach it directly to the card. With the lollies and the button, this is a HEAVY card, definitely one to give in person instead of mailing!

Supply List

Stamps: Trendy Trees (used for sentiment; page 108 of IBC)

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede

Paper: Spice Cake DSP (retired from 2011 Holiday mini)

Accessories: Simply Scored, Modern Label punch, Scallop Oval punch, raffia, Spice Cake Designer Buttons (retired)

Beloved Bermuda Bay

This little project right here was one of the biggest reasons I got my crimper. I have been wanting and wanting to make these little sour cream containers for treats FOR-EVER, but I never thought they looked right without those crimped ends. Super easy to do - just a 4" square piece of cardstock rolled into a tube. Adhere one end, fill with a treat, and adhere the other end perpendicular to the opposite side. A quick crimp on each side and it's time to decorate.

I wanted to use some of my stash of Bermuda Bay cardstock. This was a Stampin' Up! In Color two years ago. I was really hoping it would make the jump to a full time addition to the color family like my dear Pacific Point, but it didn't, so I had to stock up before it retired!

Supply List

Stamps: Itty Bitty Bits (page 143 of IBC)

Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

Ink: Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Large Tag punch, hole punch, Linen Thread, crimper

Valentine's Box & a Sneak Peek!

Well, I'm back to paper, but it's not a card. One of the things that I love about working with paper is taking something so flat and two-dimensional and doing really cool three-dimensional things with it! I've seen several boxes created with the Top Note die for the Big Shot, but those usually use the Box #2 die to create the box inside. I don't have the Box #2 die, so I had to get creative and do some hard measuring!

Here are the measurements for the box I made (and these make perfect sense in Jennifer world): I cut the piece of Poppy Parade cardstock to 8"x9". With the 9" long side against the top of my scoring board, I scored at 1/2", 2 1/2", 6 1/2", and 8 1/2". I turned the cardstock 90 degrees so the 8" side was at the top of the board and scored at 3" and 5". I turned the cardstock 90 degrees again and cut up from the bottom along the 2 1/2" score and 6 1/2" score until I got to the second horizontal score, turned the scissors and cut along that score so I wound up with what looked like a T. Then I folded on all the score lines and adhered the 1/2" tabs inside the box with Sticky Strip.

How pretty is the paper on the front of the Top Note? This is the Everyday Enchantment DSP that is part of this year's Sale-A-Bration, which begins on January 24th! The coordinating brad in the center of the flower is another SAB item. There is also a coordinating stamp set available and you can earn any of these items for free simply by hosting a workshop or placing a $50 order during SAB! Let me know if you'd like more info!

By the way, you may see this box again. I plan on creating Valentine treats for my son to take to daycare. I may make lollipop covers or some other kind of candy treat, which I'll let him carry in the box. After the treats are given out, our babysitter can keep the box for herself. So once I make the treats, you can be sure they'll be pictured on here!

Supply List

Stamps: None

Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla

Paper: Everyday Enchantment DSP (Sale-A-Bration mini catalog)

Ink: Poppy Parade (brushed along flower edge)

Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note die, crimper, Sticky Strip, Everyday Enchantments Ribbon & Brad pack (Sale-A-Bration mini catalog)

A change of pace

Yay, it's not made of paper! Today, I made a new beaded necklace. This originally began as a three-strand beaded necklace with a fancy flower toggle clasp. When I finished it though, the clasp and beads just didn't look right, plus it was really too long for the toggle clasp. So I took off the toggle, added a traditional clasp in the back and a pendant that says 'love' on in English on one side and in Japanese on the other. All in all this was a pretty fast piece to create.

Had to get creative with the photo. My jewelry stands are buried somewhere, so I just draped the necklace over my desk lamp!

Supply List

*Seed beads in black, multi, and pink.

*Beading thread & needle

*Crimp beads

*Jump rings

*Clasp

*Pendant

Hopeful Flutters

Since I already had the Wild Wasabi and Pretty in Pink out for yesterday's card, I decided to do another one in those colors. For this one, I stamped the butterfly from Strength and Hope in Black Stazon and watercolored with Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, and Rose Red. The watercolor made the wings curl up a bit, which is a nice effect. The butterflies are popped up on dimensionals for a little extra depth.

Supply List

Stamps: Strength and Hope (retired from Summer mini catalog)

Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White (for butterflies)

Ink: Black Stazon, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink

Accessories: Subtles Watercolor Wonder Crayons, scalloped border punch, dimensionals

A spring thing

You ever forget you bought something and get super excited when you find it? That's how today's project got started. I was rearranging some things in my stamp cabinet when I discovered a brand new set of Subtles watercolor crayons! I bought them a few months ago since I have so few Subtles ink pads. It was a more cost effective way of getting all of the colors in hand quickly! Once I found those, I knew I'd be making a spring card, because I'm so over cold weather and it's only January 8.

I guess because I didn't have any watercolor crayons, I'd shifted my stamp purchasing focus away from line images, so it was hard to find something to color. Then I realized that Gently Falling from the now retired holiday mini catalog was a two-step stamping set, with solid and line images, so I decided on a bouquet of fresh green leaves. This card could easily be modified for autumn simply by switching out the greens for something like Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, and Rich Razzleberry.

Supply List

Stamps: Gently Falling (retired for now [you never know - it may reappear in the next IBC]), Word Play (page 156 of IBC)

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White

Ink: Black Stazon, Pretty in Pink

Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons in Certainly Celery & Wild Wasabi, 5/8" Certainly Celery ribbon (retired), Designer Hardware (retired)

**A lot of my retired items are things I find on SU!'s Clearance Rack, where you can save up to 60% on supplies, accessories, and embellishments! To see what's on the Clearance Rack this week, click on the "Order Stampin' Up! Online" button in the upper right corner which will take you to my SU! webpage. From there you can click on store, then on clearance to find the goodies!

What's up, Gnomies?

How cute are these guys? This is Gnome Sweet Gnome, a brand new set in the Occasions mini catalog. The set also has a baby gnome, plus a wheelbarrow, flowers, watering can, and other gardening goodies.

The paper in the background is actually some leftover from the Holly Berry Bouquet DSP in the 2011 Holiday mini catalog. It may be Christmas paper, but I thought the yellow, reds, and greens worked really well for a garden gnome card.

You light up my lawn!

Supply List
*Stamps: Gnome Sweet Gnome (Occasions mini catalog)
*Cardstock: So Saffron, Real Red, Whisper White
*DSP: Holly Berry Bouquet (retired)
*Ink: Basic Black, various Stampin' Write markers
*Accessories: Modern Label punch, Brights brads, So Saffron 5/8" ribbon (retired)

Something for Everyone

A quick set of cards featuring Packed for Everything from the new Occasions mini catalog. These four stamps can be purchased individually (Packed for Mom, Packed for Dad, Packed for Baby, and Packed for Birthday) or as a group at a 25% savings. I think these are so cute and easy to make a quick set of notecards so you're covered for any event!

Supply List

Stamps: Packed for Everything (Occasions Mini)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede

Ink: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede, various markers

Crimpin' - Not just for hair!

Got me a new toy this week - a crimper! So of course I had to do some experimenting!

The crimper is used in two ways on this card. For the background, I folded in the four corners, then ran it through the crimper folded. When I unfolded it, my crimped lines were going in opposite directions. To create the flower, I took a strip of Calypso Coral cardstock and ran it through the crimper multiple times and in multiple directions. This distresses and breaks down the fibers in the cardstock and allows you to separate the cardstock into two strips with a soft texture. I then spiraled the strips up on a punched out circle and added a knot of ribbon in the center with a glue dot. So much fun!

Supply List

Stamps: Always Elegant (page 180 of IBC)

Cardstock: Tempting Turqouise, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: CRIMPER!, Tempting Turqouise 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, large oval punch, scallop oval punch

Stamp Club Amour

I spend the first Wednesday evening of each month with my fabulous stamp club. The ladies in my stamp club take turns being hostesses and each month we get together, chat and catch up, ooh and ahh over SU!'s products, and make a card or two.

Here's what we made tonight. A bit early but it could definitely be used as a Valentine's Day card, an anniversary or wedding card, or a simple, unexpected "I love you" card.

To create the shadowed Eiffel Tower, I first stamped it in Crumb Cake, then stamped it again with Early Espresso. So it wasn't too far off, I used a clear mount stamp and lined up the rubber with the very edge of my Crumb Cake image before stamping. Voila!

Supply List

Stamps: Artistic Etchings (page 129 of IBC)

Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White

Ink: Rose Red, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Accessories: 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon in Early Espresso, stamping sponges, dimensionals

Fun With Frames (Part 2)

Since the eastern seaboard is frigid and we have a huge 20% chance of snow tonight, here's a snow wish. I wanted to make something where the frame was incorporated into the image. I took one of the 4x4 frames I mentioned in my post yesterday and embossed some snowflakes on a piece of Baja Breeze. I added the "snow" with some old rub-ons I had laying around and stamped a little penguin. I used the same rub-ons to write "let it" on the frame, and took a small snowflake Decor Element, cut it apart, and added it to the frame as well. Decor Elements is SU!'s line of vinyl elements that can be added to walls, mirrors, frames, vases, and any other 3D object you can hold still! Let's see if this helps get me a two-hour delay in the morning!

Supply List

Stamps: Polar Party (page 37 of IBC)

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black classic pad, Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist, & Basic Black markers

Accessories: Flurry Decor Elements (page 229 of IBC), Northern Flurry Embossing Folder (page 219 of IBC), Decorative Label Punch (page 209 of IBC), frame

Fun With Frames (Part 1)

As the title implies, there is a part 2 coming too! I got one of those really cheap assorted packs of frames because I needed some 8x10 and 5x7 frames for family photos. I wound up with some extra 4x4 and 4x6 frames so I decided to do a little experimenting.

For this design, I thought back to a project I did in 8th grade art class using tissue paper and Mod Podge. To start off, I stamped the images from the Artistic Etchings stamp set in black on some white tissue paper. Then I tore them out. I also tore some blue and green tissue paper I had left over from the holidays. The wrinklier, the better! Once I had all my pieces, I disassembled the frame, and put a coat of Mod Podge right on the inside of the glass. I put the stamped pieces down first, then put more Mod Podge over them, then continued building up layers of tissue paper and Mod Podge. Once everything was dry, I trimmed off the excess tissue paper from around the edge of the glass and reassembled my frame. I wouldn't recommend doing this with a fancy expensive frame, but with one I paid less than a dollar for, I think it came out pretty well!

Supply List

Stamps: Artistic Etchings (page 129 of IBC)

Cardstock: Whisper White (I put it behind the tissue paper to cover up the cardboard backing board)

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Tissue paper scraps, Mod Podge, foam brush, picture frame

A Fresh Beginning

Today's project features some fresh blooms for a fresh year. These are 4-1/4" square cards. One thing my SU! upline taught me is if you're going to make a card, you may as well make two since you'll have everything out and you usually need to cut the paper in half anyway! :-)

For the bottom layer, I stamped the design from Always Elegant in Wild Wasabi, then flipped the paper over and scored it in 1" increments using my scoring board. On the lower card, I sponged some Soft Suede ink over the scored lines to increase the distressed aged look, but I kept the lines on the top card plain. Click on the picture to view a larger image and see the scored lines.

It's always good to have quick note cards on hand - you never know when you may need them!

**IBC refers to SU!'s Idea Book & Catalog**

Supply List

Stamps: Always Elegant (IBC page 80), Pocket Silhouettes (IBC page 109)

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla

Inks: Soft Suede, Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Simply Scored, Hodepodge Hardware (retired), Linen Thread, Stamping Sponges